


Collateral Damage

by notSuperboi



Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: (except you're welcome), Alternate Universe, Frank is part demon, M/M, People die and become ghosts sometimes, Pete is a Ghost, Violence comes later on, brendon is a witch, hint of school shooting, patrick has the sixth sense, supernatural elements au, trust me - Freeform, what can i say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-10-05 22:26:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10318427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notSuperboi/pseuds/notSuperboi
Summary: "okay, so you have the sixth sense and some ghost guy is trying to contact you...any idea why?""Well, he said earlier that he needed help and that you were kind of a vial part in that helping scheme."Brendon's head snapped up and he scurried over to Patrick, "he wants both of us?""Uh, yeah."Brendon started pacing and pulling his hair, "oh this is bad, so very bad. Never ever fuck with the afterlife!!! Rule number fucking one of this supernatural shit!"





	1. Nearly Witches

Sophomore year fucking sucked. Patrick groaned and slammed his head on his desk as soon as the tardy bell rang. He had to sit through another boring lecture before he could go home and fucking sleep the rest of the day away.  
It sounded boring but Patrick thought that it sounded like heaven. Perfect bliss only came in the form of sleep. Especially since he's a fucking night owl and hates to wake up early.  
He raised his head up and sighed, fixing his askew fedora. He watched idly as the last person in the class was someone he had never seen before. His nose scrunched up as the new person snagged the only open seat which just so conveniently had to be next to Patrick.  
The person's hair was styled in a sort of crazy way and looked to have been previously shaved on the sides. The brown tuft had grown out obviously and gave him a more compulsive look. He was wearing an oversized band shirt and black skinny jeans with box frame glasses. Compared to Patrick's red cardigan and own black skinny jeans, he looked fucking hot. In a total platonic way. He thought the guy was attractive sure, but Patrick just wasn't attracted to him. He was more attracted to him as a friend.  
The boy caught him staring and smiled, giving a little wave, "hiya, I'm Brendon."

Patrick smiled back his best angel smile and internally cackled as it did its job. Brendon's face shimmered and looked like he was seeing a fucking god, Patrick smiled brighter, "hey Brendon, I'm Patrick."

Brendon shook out of Patrick's beauty trance and smiled wide, "you're the only fucking person today who actually responded."

Patrick laughed and turned his body to face Brendon, giving him his full attention, "yeah well, this school sucks dick and is pretty much filled with homophobic assholes."

Patrick flinched internally at the look on his newfound friend's face, "shit, sorry I shouldn't have mentioned anything if it makes you uncom-"

Brendon hurried to interrupt him, "no no, it's fine, really. I'm actually bisexual myself so I guess it's good to know that I can't be out here."

Patrick smiled, "surprisingly, the cheerleaders are actually cool and so are the soccer and basketball players. I'm pretty sure that like, more than half of them are gay."

Brendon laughed hard and beamed at Patrick, "y'know, I think you're my new best friend. Welcome to the Urie fan club."

Patrick cracked up at that, "yeah right, like anyone would wanna join a fan club about a fucking forehead."

Patrick paused after he said it and waited for a reaction. He sighed in relief when he saw that Brendon was laughing as well. He didn't know why but joking around with this guy just felt so easy and natural.  
It was like they knew each other before.

000000000000000000000000000

From that point on, Patrick realized how annoying Brendon could actually be. But Patrick wouldn't fucking trade their friendship for the world.  
Before Brendon, Patrick was a loner. Sitting alone, eating alone, working alone. Now, Brendon was everywhere with him. They were actually dubbed the 'Terrible Two' at one point, whatever the fuck that meant. Brendon and him would skip class to smoke weed or party together and Patrick was usually introvert as fuck, but Brendon just made him show himself more. Patrick thought it funny how their teachers scolded them all the time for skipping or doing something stupid but they were both still passing with a 3.4 gpa.  
Patrick's mother disapproved of his friend choice but he didn't care, as long as they didn't do something actually horrible, he was fine. Brendon's mother loved Patrick and everything about him. She was actually a spiritual guru. Brendon said that his mother was a witch one summer and Patrick just brushed it off, thought it was nothing. His Mother did in fact own tons of spell books and secret 'witch stuff' as Brendon called it.  
Patrick lived with Brendon most of the week, hating to go home to his own homophobic and strict parents. It made him sick to know how much they used to belittle him. Brendon's Mom was like a surrogate mother to Patrick and always said how him and Brendon were different in so many ways but alike in just as much.  
It was the summer after their junior year when Patrick went over to the ice cream shop with Brendon, chatting idly the entire way.  
Apparently, if Patrick was following the rushed story correctly, Brendon's friend Spencer introduced him to a really hot guy who was pretty much all legs and was named Ryan. Patrick smirked at Brendon's love eyes and cleared his throat to get his friend's attention.

"So you gonna ask him out or...?"

Brendon flushed red and stopped in his tracks, "how-? I- no! Of course not! I've known him for literally three days!"

Patrick raised a brow and stopped walking to stand in front of Brendon, "so? You said that he's flirting with you every second. Do it."

Brendon groaned, "I over exaggerated, it wasn't really every second it-"

"Shut it Bren. He was still flirting right?" At his friend's nod Patrick continued, "then he thinks you're attractive. Wait a week if you want, or two whatever, but if he doesn't make a move, then you need to because you both obviously like each other."  
Brendon bit his lip and nodded, starting to walk again. Patrick internally grinned and matched pace with him, quickly drowning out the rushed and excited story that Brendon was telling him, honestly Brendon shouldn't be this worked up over someone. The entire school knows that Bren is a total slut, if he wants someone, he goes out of his way to get them.

"Patrick."

Patrick jumped at the soft and unfamiliar voice, whipping around in the sidewalk to check for anyone. No one was there.

"What the-?"

"'Trick? You okay?"

Patrick swallowed and nodded, "yeah I just thought I heard something..."

Brendon nodded and Patrick continued to walk with him, not forgetting about the strange voice calling his name. They reached the parlor and Patrick smiled at the Baskin Robbins worker, frantically ordering cotton candy ice cream like a little kid. Brendon had gotten mint chocolate chip and paid for both of them.  
They sat down in the back and Brendon continued his story about fuck knows what, the same tale that Patrick wasn't listening to. Brendon started getting into it and used hand gestures, making Patrick smile and laugh.

"Patrick."

Patrick nearly choked on his ice cream and quickly recovered before Brendon noticed.

"Patrick, don't freak out. I need your help."

Patrick felt the back of his neck tingling and his palms shaking. He gripped his ice cream cup harder and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the voice away. When he opened them Brendon was looking at him concerned and opened his mouth to say something but before he could get a word out, Patrick was rushing to speak.

"Is your Mom home? I have to ask her an important question."

Brendon raised his brows skeptically and nodded, "uh, yeah? She's doing some weird witchy spell thing at home, why you asking TreeStump?"

Patrick shrugged and didn't respond to the nickname. His nerves were buzzing and his heart rate was fast, blood pumping vigorously through his body. He really hoped that the voice wouldn't return yet.

0000000000000000000000000000

"So," Brendon's mother was sitting across the long dining room table and checking both Patrick and Bren over, "what seems to be the problem?"

Brendon shrugged and made a pointed look over towards Patrick and the shorter only ignored him, instead giving his full attention to Mrs. Urie, "um, you're an actual witch right? I-I mean Brendon has told me of your guys' heritage and I just-"

"Patrick, I'm not a witch." At this she gave Brendon a pointed look and he sunk deeper into his chair, "I simply have a special connection to the Earth. I'm more like a medium than anything.." she trailed off with a laugh and Patrick only barely heard Brendon murmur under his breath.

"That's the literal definition for witch, though..."

Patrick could've laughed at the look Brendon's Mom was giving him if their situation was less serious.

"Anyways, what were you telling me 'Trick?"

Patrick fiddled with his thumbs and swallowed hard before speaking again, "I think..."

Brendon looked up with interested eyes and his Mom leaned in closer. Patrick bit his lip and shook his head, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to know if Brendon was telling the truth."

Brendon huffed and Mrs. Urie looked unconvinced, "of fucking coarse I was telling the truth I-"

"Brendon! Language," she turned towards Patrick, "are you sure that's all you wanted to know?"

Patrick squirmed in his seat and nodded, subconsciously pulling his fedora down to try and hide. Honestly, he felt strangely guilty for not confiding in her and a lump grew in his throat. He just felt that since the voice hasn't said anything since the hour before at the ice cream shop that he was just hearing things. Or maybe the summer heat was getting to him, yes that could be it.

Mrs. Urie sighed and looked at the clock before hurriedly standing up and shooing the boys from the room, "quickly, quickly now! I've got a client coming in about three minutes and he can't know you're here!"

Brendon chuckled and Patrick snorted, knowing immediately who it was, "is it the priest again?"

Brendon laughed and his Mother only smiled at their behavior before closing the door behind the two teens.

"She does realize that a priest can't really date anyone, right?"

Brendon nodded, "yeah, she's not into him or anything, hasn't been attracted to anyone since Dad."

Patrick recalled Brendon telling him that he never knew his father because he had died of lung cancer two years after he was born. Brendon had told him that his Mother would hypnotize herself sometimes to think back hard and grasp onto forgotten memories of her husband. Patrick had asked if that was dangerous and Brendon had told him that she was a professional, and yes in fact, it was very dangerous. Apparently, ever since she started to really channel her 'abilities', as Bren had put it, she had started a little on-the-side business next to her job as a waitress.   
Her job was to help people get closure with dead loved ones or make potions and spells for the helpless. Patrick always loved to watch her work when he was younger. Mrs. Urie was the closest thing he had to a Mother.

"Anyways," Patrick was snapped out of his mind and back to reality, "she only likes the Priest's stories."

Patrick hummed, "Frank seemed like a good kid."

Frank was Father Iero's gay as fuck son. Patrick recalled him seeing the kid once or twice at school. They could've been friends if he'd had known Brendon sooner. Brendon would hang with Spencer and Spencer would hang with his gang and sometimes Frank. Brendon didn't know the guy well enough, they both didn't. Not until the priest started coming over to their house to confide in Brendon's mother about how his son was demonic.  
The priest had said that he'd thought his son was just going through a phase before he had learned that his deceased wife was actually a fucking demon, making his son part demon as well. Patrick was young at that age and confused, but he guessed the priest to be crazy. Brendon's Mom believed him though and eagerly waited for the days when the priest would come over.  
Only recently had Frank gone missing and Father Iero thought that his son 'summoned' his 'buddies' and left. Patrick thought it was pretty stupid of an explanation and it was the only part that Mrs. Urie ever disagreed with. Still, he couldn't help but wonder if that voice he had heard had been Frank's.

"Are you staying the night again?"

Patrick thought about that one, he had stayed here since the beginning of summer vacation which was around May 25. It was June 6 today. He sighed and shook his head, he knew that he wasn't a burden, that the Uries loved having him, it was just the matter of his own Mom.

"Nah, Mom's probably wondering why I haven't come home in over two weeks."

Brendon rolled his eyes, "its her fault she's always a dick to you."

Patrick wanted to protest, wanted to say that no matter what she acted like that she was still his Mother, but those days were long gone. She had her chances.

"Still, I better go. I'll text you later."

Brendon smirked, "want a ride home?"

Patrick narrowed his eyes, "why?"

"Because I'm on my way to Spencer's anyways. I'm gonna go say hi to Ryan and him."

Patrick rolled his eyes, "you're making it obvious, don't go there just for Ryan."

"Shut it! I'll acknowledge Spence for the most part and then I'll talk to Ryan!"

Patrick chuckled, "yeah sure, gimme a ride home."

Brendon grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the front room, walking through beaded drapes before they reached the door. Brendon let go of him and walked ahead and outside, stopping to say hello to Father Iero who was on his way up to the porch. The younger teen rushed over to the driver's side of the light blue jeep and Patrick ran to the passenger side.

"Okay! So does your Mom still hate me or what?"

Patrick sighed, "I dunno, I think that she thinks you're a bad influence towards me but I don't think she hates you..."

Brendon grinned, "great! I'm gonna say hi and then I have something really important to show you before I head over to Spencer's!"

Patrick startled, "no! Bren, she hates it when I invite someone over without permission first!"

"Then I'm telling her that I went inside against your will."

"Then she'll hate you even more."

Brendon narrowed his eyes, "I thought you just said that she doesn't hate me."

"She doesn't, I mean I don't know, at least I think she doesn't...but she will."

"I don't really care though, so deal with it."

Patrick rolled his eyes and sighed, squirming in his seat as he saw his house looming in the distance. This would be a very tense conversation with his mother and Brendon. Both were very determined people when made out to be.   
Brendon pulled into his driveway and immediately hopped out, racing to the front porch. Patrick frantically undid his seat belt and ran after him, wanting to make sure that Brendon didn't just happen to run into his mother without him being there.

"Brendon! Stop it!"

Brendon's cheery laugh sounded from the front of the house and Patrick shot up the porch steps to come face to forehead with Brendon Urie.

"I swear to fucking god, move so I can open the door."

Brendon chuckled and stepped aside, allowing Patrick to get by him and jam his house key into the lock. Patrick twisted the doorknob and swung open the front door, walking inside ahead of Brendon. The delicious smell of spaghetti and garlic bread flooded both the boys' nostrils, Brendon hummed in appreciation.   
Together, they walked into the kitchen to be met with the back of Patrick's mother.

"Hey Mom..."

She swung around and stared at Patrick before looking over at Brendon and glaring, "Patrick, glad you've decided to come back...and you brought company?"

Patrick sheepishly nodded and Brendon smiled wide, "hi Ms. Stumph! Patrick told me that you might be worried for him cuz he's been with me since the start of summer so I brought him back, and I'm only here to show him something important to me, it'll only take a moment and then I'll be out of your hair."

Patrick's mother thought hard before narrowing her eyes and Brendon hurried to speak, "I swear that it's nothing illegal or bad! It's just something I read..."

She glared before shaking her head and nodding, "alright, don't influence him more than you've already have..."

Patrick smiled at his mother's kind tone of voice. She had wrong beliefs but she was still a wonderful woman and even she couldn't deny that Brendon had changed her son for the better. She still remembered how small and fragile he had been, how lonely and sad. It broke her heart. It was possibly the only reason why she still tolerated Brendon.

"We'll be right upstairs Mom! If you need us for anything just knock!"

Brendon grabbed Patrick's arm and pulled him up the stairs and into the shorter teen's room, settling both of them on the ground. 

"Okay," Brendon crossed his legs into Indian style, "give me your hand."

Patrick raised a brow, "what are you gonna do?"

"Just give it to me, it's nothing bad I swear!"

Patrick but his lip and thrust his arm out toward Brendon, shivering when the younger's cold hands grabbed ahold of him.

"Okay, so apparently I happened to inherit it as well and that's totally fucking awesome because I called my mom a witch as a joke but now I know that she isn't a fucking fraud and I have what she has so this is cool and-"

"Brendon, slow down and get to the point."

Brendon's head shot up and he furrowed his brows, "I think I'm a witch."

Patrick just stared at his friend. A million questions were running though his head. This is it, Brendon was officially fucking crazy. His Mother wasn't a witch, she specifically said she wasn't. Which, Patrick thought, was her joking around and leading him on that it was all a rouse. He only asked her if she was a real witch that day because he didn't want to obsess over a simple voice in his head, he had to come up with something else to say. Patrick blinked once, then twice, then shook his head and bit out, "what?"

Brendon swallowed, "I know! Well, I've been doing research and apparently I'm a hearth witch? Like that's pretty fucking cool and-"

"Brendon, shut the fuck up for a second."

Brendon's mouth closed like a steel trap and Patrick sighed while rubbing his temples, "Brendon, you're not a witch."

Brendon just gaped, "what? Of coarse I am! Look, I'll show you."

Brendon pulled Patrick's wrist closer and Patrick tried to wrestle his arm free but Bren held on tight. 

"This is gonna hurt at first and I'm sorry in advance but it's the only thing I know how to do at the moment and apparently you need to see it to believe it."

Patrick still kept trying to pull away and Brendon eventually grabbed his forearm and tucked it between his armpit, making Patrick's arm twist weirdly and have a view of Brendon's back.

"Brendon seriously! Fuck, dude stop!"

Patrick gave up fighting only when Brendon kept twisting his arm backwards, "Bren, dude you're gonna pop my shoulder out of socket."

Brendon didn't give Patrick a response and the older started freaking out, "Bren?!"

Brendon continued to twist Patrick's shoulder, stopping momentarily when it wouldn't go any further.

"Patrick," he spoke carefully and Patrick was internally panicking, "do not scream or your mother will come in here and you'll never be allowed to see me again."

Patrick scoffed, "then don't do whatever you're about to do," Patrick had a vague suspicion about what was about to happen but he kept his mouth shut.

"Grab a sock or something and bite down on it...sorry in advance..."

Patrick's brain addled with confusion and with his other shaking hand, he reached out and picked up a clean sock, stuffing it in his mouth. He tapped Brendon on the shoulder, a hint saying he was ready, and he heard Brendon take a deep breath.  
With one jerk of a motion, Brendon twisted Patrick's arm the rest of the way and a sickening pop sounded throughout the room. Tears welled up in the strawberry blond's eyes and he muffled a scream. Brendon hurried to turn around and carefully set Patrick's arm on the ground. The taller man clamped his hands over the strawberry blond's mouth, effectively shutting out the scream.   
When Patrick was now only taking big and shuddering breaths, Brendon straddled the other and tucked the injured extremity into the teen's chest. Patrick's vision was tunneling from the pain and small whimpers were making their way out from the sock.

"Patrick."

Patrick's eyes flickered up sleepily to a tall figure standing above him. The owner of the unfamiliar voice was a man who looked in his mid twenties. His form was translucent and flickering. Brendon didn't see the third person in the room. 

"Patrick, trust him."

Patrick shook his head, tears streaking down his face.

"He can help you, he can help us."

Patrick didn't know what the figure meant by saying 'us' and was about to ask but when he looked back up, they were gone.

"'Trick, I'm sorry...are you still there?"

Patrick nodded through the pain and listened to Brendon breathe a sigh of relief, "okay, this is the fun part but I'm gonna need you to sit up and give me your arm again."

If Patrick wasn't in huge amounts of pain he'd probably yell at Brendon, tell him that nothing about this was fun and most certainly argue about giving over his arm again. Instead, he sat up with the help of his best friend and hissed when his arm was jostled. Brendon was beaming and Patrick had half the mind to punch him in his face.

"Watch this."

Patrick watched as Brendon reached out with both hands and gently placed them on his wounded shoulder. Patrick whimpered when the other teen started chanting something in Latin under his breath. Brendon's eyes were glowing a strange gold and the area where his hands were touching was starting to feel tingly. Kinda like annoying pins and needles.  
And just like that, the pain stopped and Patrick could move his fingertips again. Brendon pulled away and his eyes went back to their normal chocolate brown, smiling wide as he saw the look on Patrick's face.

"So...?"

Patrick swallowed hard, "you're a witch."

Brendon laughed, a boisterous and joyful laugh that made Patrick smiled before Remembering what Brendon did.

"You fucking dick!" He reached over and punched Brendon with his still tingling arm, "you dislocated my shoulder for nothing! You could've just pricked my finger with one of the many tacks in the room!"

Brendon smiled sheepishly, "uh yeah, I guess I could've?"

"You dramatic piece of shit."

Brendon smiled and stood up, offering Patrick his hand. Patrick accepted it begrudgingly and followed Bren out of his room and down the stairs. Patrick's mother was on the phone and Patrick grabbed the brunette's shoulder, steering him out of the house. They went out the back porch and Patrick pulled Brendon into the woods, not stopping until they reached their favorite spot.

"Y'know, my Mother always said that these woods were mystical. Never believed her..."

Patrick rolled his eyes, "that's great Brendon, look I think you're in a little over your head here with all this witchy stuff."

"How so?"

"You literally just dislocated my shoulder I mean-"

"Ugh, you're still milking that?"

Patrick gaped, "it was ten minutes ago!"

"So...?"

Patrick scowled, "don't go messing with shit you're not supposed to. Hell, I'm not even quite so sure what happened back there but I was five seconds away from passing out and I swear to god your dumb magic thingy made me see a god damn ghost."

Brendon huffed, "it's not dumb and-wait...did you just say that you saw a fucking ghost?"

Patrick scoffed, "I don't know! I think!"

"That's impossible."

"..."

"I'm gonna fucking punch you in the dick."

 

"Okay, okay! Are you sure it was a ghost?"

 

"Fuck if I know! I literally only started hearing him today!"

"Have you heard him more than once?"

Patrick recalled the ice cream shop and the sidewalk, "yeah, before we went to your house."

Brendon's eyebrows shot up, "was that what you wanted to talk to my mom about?"

Patrick nodded once and Brendon scratched the back of his neck, "okay, so you have the sixth sense and some ghost guy is trying to contact you...any idea why?"

"Well, he said earlier that he needed help and that you were kind of a vial part in that helping scheme."

Brendon's head snapped up and he scurried over to Patrick, "he wants both of us?"

"Uh, yeah."

Brendon started pacing and pulling his hair, "oh this is bad, so very bad. Never ever fuck with the afterlife!!! Rule number fucking one of this supernatural shit!"

"Uh...Bren?"

Patrick was honestly so confused.

"Was that time when I fucked up your shoulder the only time you saw his form?"

Patrick nodded, "yeah it was flickering though, almost like he-"

"Was losing his connection... but since you heard only his voice earlier and now you're seeing his form....your connection's getting stronger."

Patrick swallowed, "I think he wants us to help him."

 

Brendon shook his head, "or he wants something from us..."

Brendon walked over to Patrick and pulled on his arm, steering him out of the woods and back around towards the front of Patrick's house. Neither said a word until Brendon shoved Patrick into the passenger seat of his jeep, "Brendon what the fuck?"

Brendon's fingers flew across his phone and Patrick guessed that he was telling Spencer that he might be a little late, or that he won't show at all. He put the key in the ignition once done and huffed a breath of air. Brendon started the car and quickly backed out of the driveway, speeding towards his own house, "my Mom should still be there, she'll be able to help us."

"Bren...?"

"I need to know what the fuck kind of witch power is so important to a dead guy and you need to sever that connection quickly, before it gets too strong."

 

Patrick gulped, "and if we don't?"

Brendon growled, "then you're stuck with the spirit until we found out what it wants."


	2. The end is nigh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'll be updating regularly but like I'm only updating this one right after I posted chapter one because my account was acting up and I couldn't post it so I had to wait a week to upload chapter one and in the meantime I wrote ch.2! Hopefully that won't happen again and if you're reading my other frerard fic that should be updated today so...enjoy!

When Patrick was back inside the dining room of Brendon's house the first thing he saw was the back of a very tall man. Father Iero hadn't left yet which meant that this was about to get really fucking awkward fast.   
Brendon had pushed passed the beaded curtains and settled a hand on Patrick's shoulder, a silent symbol for him to wait there. Brendon's mother immediately saw her son over the priest's shoulder and frowned at his expression.

"Grace? Is something wrong?"

Father Iero followed her eyes and turned. He stared at Brendon before breaking out into a grin, "oh, hello. You must be Brendon."

Brendon smiled back before taking the man's outstretched hand and shaking it. When they dropped hands Grace spoke up, "Brendon, I thought you were going over to Spencer's?"

From Patrick's perspective it looked as if the two were having a special mental conversation and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. When Grace looked away from her son's eyes she caught sight of Patrick and smiled before turning back to the priest.

"I'm sorry to cut this short Father but-"

"Oh no! I totally get it! Your son needs you...I'll be back next week?"

Mrs. Urie nodded and the Priest smiled before walking out the room and passed Patrick to the front door. Brendon only spoke when they heard his car pulling out of the driveway and Patrick was standing next to him.

"Mom, I know how you said to never mess with shit like this but to be fair we never really messed with it and we just need your help so pretty please don't be mad and just-"

"Brendon," Grace sighed, "you're doing it again, honey."

Brendon blanked, "what?"

"You ramble when you know you've done something bad or when you're nervous."

Brendon glared at Patrick and Grace laughed before gesturing to the table, "sit and explain boys."

She sat down at the head of the table and the two teens sat side by side. Brendon spoke first, "um, so like three days ago I noticed something off about me and-"

"I thought we already had the puberty talk Bren-"

"No! Nope! That's not it!"

Patrick laughed loudly and Grace smiled before settling on a serious expression, "get on with it then."

Brendon swallowed audibly, "I did research and shit and even practiced it a couple of times on myself before doing it on Patrick today to show him and...well I think I'm a hearth witch?"

Grace sat back in her seat and hummed, folding her hands together on the table top, "so you've come of age then."

Brendon blinked twice and locked eyes with Patrick who only shrugged. He looked back at his Mother, "what."

She smiled, "your ancestors were part of the Salem witch trials, yes I'm a witch and so are you."

Brendon was still confused and Patrick was somewhere else in his mind, "wait, why did you deny me all those times that I called you a witch?!"

Grace laughed and her eyes sparkled, "It was like an inside joke whenever I told you off. I'm surprised you even made it this far without noticing something."

Brendon gaped and Patrick laughed. The younger turned and glared, Patrick shrugged, "what? It's not my fault you're too dumb to realize shit."

"Says the person who just found out they could see ghosts."

Patrick stalled and Mrs. Urie startled, "wait, what did you just say Brendon?"

Brendon slowly turned towards her, "uh...yeah Patrick has the sixth sense or whatever."

She glared at both of them, "you haven't been trying to contact spirits have you? This thing is bad news boys, Brendon you know this!"

Patrick rushed to defend himself, "no, no nothing like that! The thing is is that the ghost is kinda trying to contact me? And like, apparently I'm his connection to this world? And he wants Brendon's help too but I'm the only one who can see him..."

Patrick watched as the witch in front of him furrowed her brows and bit her lip before giving a pointed look at Brendon, "Bren, you have a stronger connection with Patrick than I do so in order to break the bond between the spirit and your friend I'm gonna need your help."

Brendon nodded and Grace smiled before standing up and pushing the table away, revealing a large symbol burned into the floor.

"Mom! What-?"

"I'll explain everything later but right now I need you to get me a few things, can you do that?"

Brendon nodded and Patrick frowned, drowning the two out. His hands were shaking and there was a strange flickering in the corner of his eye. Patrick guessed that Pete was trying to contact him again.   
Patrick startled when a soft hand guided his chin to meet Grace's eyes.

"Honey, I need you to sit on the symbol, can you do that?"

Patrick worried his bottom lip between his teeth and nodded, reluctantly walking over to the burn marks and plopping down in the center.

"Patrick," said teen glanced up, "I love you like my own son so trust me when I say that I have no intention of hurting you. If the spirit is as friendly as he seems then you'll be perfectly fine. You'll feel empty afterwards but that's what breaking a soul bond does to you."

"A soul bond...?"

She nodded, "yes, since spirits are so lonely in the afterlife they typically try tying themselves to humans who can see them. Sometimes they end up with a weak bond which makes their bond mate feel empty most times. But your bond is already so strong, if its too strong then it'll rip your soul straight from your body. We would have to let the ghost stay in that case."

Patrick swallowed, "um, and if the spirit isn't friendly?"

Grace flinched, "then you'll be in a ton of pain. I'm sorry in advance honey..."

He nodded, and she smiled. Brendon chose that time to be back and his arms were full of herbs and spell books.

"Brendon, I gave you specific instructions and I'm pretty sure I only asked for one sage bundle and the purple book?"

"Yeah but three books were purple and I don't know what sage is..."

"Bren, the sage is labeled and only one of the books you are holding is actually all purple. The rest have other colors."

Brendon pouted and handed the stuff to his mother, running over to the middle of the circle with Patrick. Patrick smiled at his friend and heard Grace audibly hiss.

"Brendon! Get away from there, you'll disrupt the magic at hand!"

Both Brendon and Patrick responded at the same time, "what?"

"Bren, You just discovered your powers so you don't really have control over them. Us witches take energy from the Earth and give it life in return. Right now, your witch side is harnessing the magic in that circle, get out of it or it won't work."

Brendon nodded and obliged, Patrick grinned, "Brendon, quit being such a life sucker."

His friend smiled and heeled footsteps came from his left ear followed by the smell of sage burning.

"Okay, I crushed up some herbs and put it in a special type of tea, I need you to drink it and leave the herb at the bottom."

Patrick frowned but nodded, quickly downing the tea. He placed the cup in front of him, still inside the circle. Grace gently placed a hand on his shoulder before setting the burning stage inside the cup. She pulled out her spell book and turned to a page. Patrick glanced up and saw words carefully scrawled as notes next to the paragraphs of spells. He had looked at the writing and didn't even attempt to read it, it had been written in Latin.

"Patrick, honey" Patrick glanced up and met eyes with Brendon's mother, "I need you to try and contact your ghost."

He bit his lip, "I don't know how."

"I know, and that's fine...it's actually pretty easy. Just reach out to him and he'll appear if your bond is as strong as we think."

Patrick nodded and squeezed his eyes shut, picturing the spirit in front of him. He stayed that way for a minute, calling out to the strange spirit. When he opened his eyes he gasped at the cold feeling overcoming him and sitting inside the circle with him was his ghost.

"Patrick...is he here?"

Patrick was too afraid to look away from the spirit and only nodded at Brendon's answer. He heard Grace take a sharp breath and he swallowed.

"Patrick...please don't cut the bond."

Patrick furrowed his brow, "why?"

"I need your help and you need mine. Please..."

"Patrick, what's he saying?"

"He's asking me not to break the bond." Patrick kept eye contact with the ghost, shivering as its form flickered.

"Keep talking to him, I might be able to get through."

Patrick nodded, "why would I need your help?"

"Because something big is coming. Frank told me and the others."

Patrick blanked, "F-Frank?? Like Iero?"

The ghost nodded and Patrick jumped when he continued talking, "Frank's half demon you know, he knows every exact move a demon is going to make and when they're gonna make it."

"What does this have to do with me and Brendon?"

The ghost leaned forward and on instinct Patrick leaned back, "Frank sees demons coming after the town...after you."

"Wh-?"

"For his witch abilities and your sixth sense. Don't be dumb Patrick."

Patrick looked away at Grace's concentrated face and back at Brendon's confused one, "He knows Frank Iero...and he's saying demons are coming for all of us..." at his next sentence Patrick turned back to the ghost and ignored the weird looks passed between the mother and son, along with the smirk the spirit gave him, "What's their purpose?"

"this town is connected in many ways to the demonic world. It's a strange and spiritual place. They chose you two to be their insight for everything. I'm here to help you and so are Frank and the others."

Patrick narrowed his eyes, "why are you helping me?"

The ghost smiled, "because if I don't my world will be destroyed and if you don't help me, you will be murdered along with the entire town."

Patrick swallowed and flinched at the frustrated grunt from Grace, "who are you?"

The ghost smiled, "Pete Wentz."

Patrick nodded, "okay. Grace stop trying to break the bond, I'm going to help him."

Grace stopped and looked at Patrick incredulously, "what?! Patrick you can't!"

"Brendon's helping too, if we don't the entire town will be destroyed, didn't you hear what I was saying?"

"Patrick," Patrick looked at Brendon's solemn face, "no one heard what you were saying, you were muttering shit in Latin..."

Patrick blanked. Since when did he fucking learn Latin? What the fuck?! A minute ago he couldn't even read it and now he's speaking the language? Okay, this was just too creepy for him.

"I'm gonna pretend like that wasn't just something that happened and explain-in English-what's going down apparently."

Brendon raised his brows and Patrick huffed before turning towards Grace and smiling. He opened his mouth to speak but a pair of cold hands stopped him from doing so.

"Don't tell her! They'll target her too!"

Patrick looked out of he corner of his eye and saw Pete's frantic face, he sighed before shaking the transparent hands off him, "why shouldn't I?"

"Because, she's a witch yes, but with this power she won't be able to stop it from coming after her. Brendon's a strong hearth witch, they expel in shit like this. Don't get her involved, you'll only get her killed."

Patrick bit his lip and looked back at Grace and she furrowed her brows, "Patrick...what did you mean about the entire town being destroyed?"

He looked at Pete for help and the ghost just shrugged, "lie."

Patrick narrowed his eyes, "Pete, the ghost-"

"Spirit," Grace corrected.

"-spirit, wants uh, he wants me to help him figure out who killed him? And the town could be in danger if we don't?"

Pete nodded and Patrick smiled. So demons were the only problem here then.

"Was that a question or an answer Patrick?"

Patrick nodded, "answer."

The witch narrowed her brows and Brendon furrowed his in confusion. Patrick realized that he must've figured out that Patrick lied.

"Okay, so where do we start to figure out your ghost's murderer?"

Patrick's head was swimming and Pete was waving his arms, "will she get the hint?!"

Patrick gulped, "um, Pete doesn't really like you? He said that he uh, he doesn't want your help..." Patrick stuttered through his sentence and trailed off at the end, looking at Grace's blank expression.

"Okay, but if you need my help you'll contact me. It's not a question Patrick, it's an order."

Patrick nodded and Brendon intervened, "wait, why didn't you just break the bond? Why did you stop when Patrick said so if the ghost wants something from us?"

Grace shook her head, "I can't, at least one of them should be willing to break the bond, otherwise both could end up dead. That's not a chance I'm willing to take. I would never bargain for any of my children's lives."

Patrick's heart surged with warmth when he heard Grace accept him as a son. 

"Thank you Grace."

She smiled but still seemed skeptical and he shared a look with Brendon. The brunette looked at Patrick with a hint of confusion before recognition crossed his face. He knew that Patrick was hiding something.

"Patrick, do not ever mess with something that we have no control over, you must understand that. If you do, we're all dead. Promise me?"

Patrick bit his lip and looked up at Brendon's mom. They were all gonna die anyways according to Pete's news...

"We never have control over anything. If we do it'll all slip through our fingers."

Pete's quiet voice dawned on him and Patrick nodded his head slightly, "I promise."

Brendon had moved closer to Patrick when he stood up. They waited until Grace left the room with a final nod to speak about what Pete said. 

"So?"

Patrick took a deep breath and flashed a glance at Pete to see the ghost staring straight at him with a smirk on his face.

"What we're going to do next is not gonna be easy, I guarantee you that. But we need your help so before I tell you this, are you in?"

Brendon smiled wide and bright before pushing back his hair and shrugging, "of coarse, through in through right?"

Patrick nodded, "through and through."

Brendon's smile didn't falter when Patrick heaved a big breath to start the story of what's going to be happening. Pete was still watching, carefully and almost lethargic. It sent a chill down Patrick's spine and the only thing he could think of in that instant was, "how cliche?"

It dawned on him that in order to do anything they'll need some help other than a witch, ghost, and medium. That thought sparked up quite an interesting question, where is Frank Iero?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update coming soon my sweet children!


	3. Keep calm and speak to me

Patrick huffed from his spot in the library and spun around in his rolling chair.

"Find anything?"

He shook his head and gave a glance in the direction of Pete's translucent form, "no, nothing good."

The spirit nodded and went back to laying on the table. Patrick bit his lip and reached over for his phone to text Brendon, only to have no response in return.  
Brendon was at home being trained by his mother and Patrick was at the library researching for Pete. All three had agreed on getting help and what they need is a safe and secure area and way to summon help without the demon's eyes following them. It was complicated and quite possibly impossible, but Patrick wouldn't give up. Even if Pete was being a dick. So now, he was inside a library looking for the most protected place in Chicago.   
Brendon had told them to just go to the church which Pete laughed at for ten minutes. This caused Patrick to gain a huge headache and angrily storm out of the room. So apparently churches aren't as holy as they seem.  
He had gone through three books and twelve websites in the past five hours and a small pang was starting behind his eyes, making Patrick really wish that he would've brought his glasses. Nothing on here made sense. Why would there not be a protected place from supernatural entities in Chicago? Literally a fucking haunt zone at the moment.  
There had to be a connection somewhere. The Urie witch line? Patrick's sixth sense? Demonic appearances? Deaths in the last five years? Pete's-wait, Pete's death!

"Pete?"

Some shuffling to his left, "yeah 'trick?"

Patrick huffed at that. He knew the guy for what, three days? Nicknames don't usually happen that soon, "how uh, if you don't mind me asking, how did you die?"

The older smiled and shrugged, "around four years ago I was a senior in high school and there was a shooting. I was one of the few that didn't make it out."

Patrick nodded, "the shooter?"

"Some kid who was bullied and ridiculed. I was mad for a while after I died for what he did to my family, for a whole bunch of kids' families, but then I began to pity him. He was just like me actually and we could've been friends if I wasn't a jock on the soccer team and afraid of what people thought of me."

Patrick bit his lip, "what was the kid's name?"

Pete shrugged, "I think it was Aaron? I fucking forgot. I forgot a lot about what happened when I was alive. I do remember that the guy was a good kid and it was like he snapped all of a sudden, freaked me the fuck out too. I heard from Frank that he used to know Aaron cuz the kid went to church and shit, always complained and freaked out over the slightest things. He was the one who told Father Iero that his wife was a demon. The kid confided in the Devil apparently."

Patrick furrowed his brows, "so he talked to entities?"

Pete nodded, "yeah a whole bunch too, Frank said that he'd spend days being summoned and talked to. Sometimes it was him being forced to give the kid advice or directions to places, other times it was him talking Aaron down from suicide. It was weird but Frank was still human. Humanity is key man."

"Directions to where?"

Pete looked at him, "what?"

Patrick rolled his eyes, "you said Frank would give him directions whenever he was forcibly summoned. Where did he tell him to go?"

"I don't know, Frank would know maybe...it'd take a while for me to find him. The parents might still have the directions written down in his room if they didn't throw out his shit. Why are you asking me so much about him?"

Patrick scoffed at Pete's density, "because I think Aaron might be the entire key to this whole debacle going down. He might know what to do and the directions will probably lead to a demon safe place if he always summoned shit."

Pete's eyes lit up, "Patrick you smart little man! Let's go get Brendon and head over to the guy's parents' place!"

Patrick nodded and quickly closed out of the computer, moving to stand up and put the books he got away when the librarian touched his shoulder and he turned around.

"Uh, yes ma'am?"

She looked disgusted at him and he swallowed audibly, "you've been murmuring to yourself and disturbing the others in here trying to read! If you do this again you're not allowed back!"

Patrick felt his face heat up and Pete snickered next to him, he really needed to work on talking to ghosts in public, "yes ma'am, sorry ma'am..."

She glared at him as he turned around and left, Pete matching pace with him. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Pete gently took a worn black leather book from a shelf and reached over to hand to Patrick.

"What do you want me to do with this?"

"It'll help us, trust me."

Patrick rolled his eyes and snatched the book, stuffing it into his cardigan and walking ahead of Pete. Patrick turned left when he stepped down the main steps of the library and headed out onto the busy sidewalk, chucking to himself as Pete got lost numerous times.

"Could you slow down 'trick?"

Patrick laughed, "maybe you could speed up!"

He heard Pete huff in annoyance and Patrick only grinned, speeding up his pace more. Pete eventually caught up to him, having to jog next to the shorter teen.

"So, you played on a soccer team?"

"Uh, yeah I was the captain."

Patrick suddenly felt really fucking self conscious. He never played sports unless it was a joke thing, he was always playing guitar or piano.

"Did you ever play?"

Patrick snorted, "no, definitely not. Sports don't appeal to me."

He heard Pete stop for a second then continue walking, "then what does?"

A small part of Patrick's subconscious wanted to blurt out, "you do!" But he quickly shook that thought away and instead said, "music I guess."

Pete hummed and nodded, "what instrument do you play?"

Patrick felt a blush creep up his neck at all the attention thrown his way, "um, guitar, piano, drums, and some others...do you play anything?"

Pete snorted, "well I used to play the bass. Not so much now though."

Patrick awkwardly giggled at Pete's dead joke and continued to walk beside him in silence. A small pang hit Patrick hard when he remembered that Pete was in fact dead. The possibility that they could've been friends-or perhaps enemies considering the fact that Patrick used to be bullied by most of the football players and Pete did state he was a jock-hit him in the face and for some reason the back of his neck felt tingly and a feeling of nostalgia swarmed over him.  
Patrick continued to walk with his head down and sleeves from his cardigan pulled over his hands as they made fists. He only stopped when Pete did and that's when he heard the faint noise of sirens in the distance.

"Police?"

He watched Pete shake his head then contemplate a bit before nodding, "and ambulance I think."

Patrick raised a brow at Pete's odd behavior before continuing to walk, unknowingly going in the direction of the sirens. It took him a minute but eventually he got why Pete stopped all of a sudden. The sirens were coming from the direction of Brendon's house.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!"

Pete started sprinting past him once he got the clarification from Patrick's freaked out outburst that Brendon might be in danger. Patrick cursed audibly before running as fast as he could with his short legs. He reached up and held on to his fedora for dear life, not wanting his prized possession to be lost in the wind as he ran. They rounded the corner at top speed and Patrick came to a halt when he saw the police tape barricade and two different ambulances. A fire truck was pulled up near the front of Brendon's house and Patrick felt a lump forming in his throat as he stood there watching the scene unfold.  
A sense of coldness washed over him and Patrick felt Pete gently place a hand on his shoulder. Patrick shrugged it off and missed the look of hurt on the spirit's face. He started forwards and walked passed the police, attempting to get inside Brendon's house. He saw a flash of hair and a glimpse of a solemn face, Grace. He started to run but a large hand held him back and dragged him over to the other side of the police tape.

"What?! Hey no! I know them, Grace is like a mother to me!"

The police man only sneered and walked away. Patrick wasn't about to give up though, he started to climb under the tape again when he felt a gentle pull of a cold hand.

"Pete no, I'm busy! I have to go see if Brendon is okay!"

Pete nodded, "yeah I know, I kinda need both of you alive and conscious as well." At Patrick's glare he hurried to speak, "Just hear me out though! I'm a fucking ghost who can walk through fucking walls! No one but you can see me, let me use that as an advantage."

Patrick stalled, "you mean-?"

"Yeah, I can go and check on them okay?"

Patrick nodded, "quickly!"

Pete winked and disappeared from Patrick's sight, making the younger gulp and rush over to the side of the house and peer through the window. Patrick saw Pete creep slowly through the small living room and around to the kitchen where he was out of the younger's sight. Patrick would just have to wait then.  
He huffed and stood anxiously near the caution tape, twisting the yellow plastic between his fingers. He almost sighed with relief when he saw Pete walk out through the front door with a calm and collected Brendon Urie. He couldn't stop himself from yelling his friend's name.

"Brendon!"

Brendon had turned, startled, and smiled with relief when he saw Patrick.

"Oh boy, do I have so much to tell you."

Pete appeared and nodded to Patrick who raised a brow back, confusion dawning on his features. Pete had looked over his shoulder and the younger followed his gaze before settling on a stretcher with a body covered by a sheet. Bile rose to Patrick's throat and he managed to croak out a simple phrase.

"Dead?"

He watched as Pete nodded and he grimaced, "name?"

Pete shook his head before pausing, then nodded, "I'll go snoop, be back in a jiffy."

Patrick muttered a sad and empty, "okay" before turning back to Brendon who looked majorly confused.

"Um? I'm kinda out of the loop here...what's going down?"

Patrick looked at his friend with a solemn expression, "we really need to find you a spell that can make you see the dead, would help you a lot better in these situations. Anyways, Pete's gonna find out who just died."

He watched as Brendon's face contorted to one full of terror, "what?! No! The paramedics told me they were going to do everything they could! Why wouldn't they just tell me he was gonna die?"

This startled Patrick, "wait woah, hold up a sec...you knew that guy?"

Brendon nodded, "yeah, me and Josh were friends when we were younger and he came over to visit and shit. One of those weird demon things came into our house though when I was explaining what I could do to him and one minute he was laughing and giddy then the next he's writhing on the floor in agony. I only knew it was a demon because of the way his eyes shifted after death and black goo dribbled out of his mouth. It was fucking disturbing."

Patrick shifted in his spot, uncomfortable, "um okay, what happened to like, make a fucking demon possess and kill your friend?"

Brendon looked solemn and he fidgeted with his fingers, shifting from side to side in his place. It made Patrick vaguely wonder if he'd taken his ADHD meds that morning.

"I was trying to tell Josh that my mom and I were witches right? Cuz he's one of the few people I trust with this shit and he's had experience with the dead multiple times. He said that his house was haunted when he was younger by a ghost named BlurryFace so I just assumed he knew more about this shit than we did and that we needed help, god do we need help."

Patrick nodded and Brendon continued, "he did a bunch of research on blessing places and I was getting some really good information out of him and I thought that we were getting somewhere, really I did. He was so chill about it and everything y'know? Then uh, then there was a huge crash and Josh went over to see what happened and our window in the back of the house broke so he laughed and assumed that there were just kids playing in the yard but 'Trick, no kids live near me. Then this huge fucking black shadow with these fucking glowing eyes screamed and I screwed my eyes shut and the next thing I knew Josh was on the ground grabbing at his throat and having a fucking episode."

Patrick grimaced in sympathy and concluded the story for Brendon, "so you called the cops?"

"Hah, uh no. I called my mom and then she called the cops and they came over with the ambulance. My mother followed shortly after."

A sense of relief flooded over the fedora clad teen, "so she doesn't know what really happened?"

Brendon looked down at his shoes, scuffing them into the pavement, "I told them he had a seizure out of the blue and did a whole lot of lying to get where I am now. They believed it. Now all is left to do is tell his family who just thought their son was going to visit a friend and have fun...not fucking show up dead."

Patrick swallowed and pulled Brendon in for a hug. The younger clung onto him for dear life and a sob wracked his throat. After a while when he was all calm and collected, he let go and wiped his eyes, sniffling one last time. Patrick smiled at Brendon and rubbed his shoulder, a symbol of comfort. Brendon gave him a sad smile back.

"Okay! So-"

Patrick jumped and may or may not have let out a little scream, "what the fuck Pete? You know what? I'm not suffering through your bullshit alone. Brendon! Go look in a spell book for a fucking clue on how to see the dead."

Brendon giggled softly and nodded, moving to go back inside his police infested house.

"What did you find?"

Pete casually leaned against the side of Brendon's house and smirked, "okay so his name is Joshua William Dun and he's very fierce about helping us with the whole demon debacle. I think it's cuz he died from a possession, if we're being honest here."

Patrick rolled his eyes, "yeah I know that."

Patrick ignored Pete's glare and instead asked, "where is he?"

"Oh um, he's over near the ambulance, inspecting his body. I'm pretty sure he's gonna start crying, kid had a boyfriend you know? He told me that together they were gonna bless his house free of an 'evil spirit' that lived there. Really though, there is no 'evil spirits' it just depends on how they died. Considering the way Josh died I would have guessed that he would've become angry. But nah, the kid probably couldn't even hurt a fly."

Patrick slumped in on himself, "so should I talk to him?"

Pete shook his head, "not now, let the kid grieve."

Patrick nodded and sighed, wishing Brendon were there so he wouldn't feel this uncomfortable with the entire situation at hand, "so what do we do now?"

Pete turned around and laid a hand on the shorter's shoulder. This time Patrick didn't brush it off, he leaned into it.

"We wait for Brendon to get back with a proper spell and then we go inspect Aaron's old house. Josh will contact us when he's ready, don't worry. Until then, we keep searching."

"What about all the demons that are somehow fucking just realizing that they can possess us?"

Pete smirked, "we're gonna have to find a priest who can perform exorcisms. Preferably one who isn't afraid of demons because his son is part of one?"

"Great there are only like three fucking priests in all of Chicago, how hard could this be?" 

Patrick smiled at Pete who opened his mouth to speak when a flitting voice rounded the corner.

"You guys need a priest now?"

Patrick nodded at Brendon who was holding a large and black covered spell book that reminded Patrick of the one Pete gave him at the library.

"Spell should be in here."

Brendon tossed the spell book at Patrick who grunted and caught it with effort.

"So," Brendon clasped his hands together, "will a Mormon ex-priest work?"

Patrick looked at Pete who shrugged. Patrick decided to answer for him, "sure, better than no priest right?"

Brendon grinned widely and smiled, "then come on, you're gonna love Dallon."


	4. The Pounding in My Head Is Coming From The Closet

The Weekes residence was looming over the trio in the distance and Patrick turned to give Pete a slight raise of his eyebrow. The spirit only shrugged and jerked his head over in the direction of the ecstatic witch standing next to them.   
After Brendon had mentioned Dallon and had found the spell in his giant book, they quickly performed it and drove to the ex priest's house. Now, the brunette teen could clearly see Pete and was planning to perform the same spell on Dallon once the man says yes to their little plan going down. (Patrick highly doubted that the priest would want anything to do with this but hey, who knows right?)

"Okay um, Dallon is pretty chill but don't be weird okay?"

Patrick furrowed his brows, "what do you mean?"

"He means not to talk to anything that normal people can't see," Pete clarified.

Okay wow, fucking rude. Patrick knew he wasn't normal but pointing it out is kinda not okay. He huffed and folded his arms before nodding at Brendon. The younger smiled wide and hurried up Dallon's front porch, Patrick and Pete not far behind. Brendon was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he knocked on the large wooden door. A groan resonated throughout the household and a gruff voice distantly yelled, "Coming!"

Brendon backed away from the door right as it swung open to reveal a tall (so very tall holy fuck Patrick's only 5'4) man with brown hair and a paint splattered shirt.

He rubbed his eyes and looked down at Brendon, "Bren? Why are you..." he blinked before finally noticing Patrick, "um?"

Brendon only smiled, "hi Dallon! Can we come inside? I have something very important to tell you."

"Uh, sure?" Dallon raised a brow and Brendon pushed passed the taller man.

Patrick, like the polite little small muffin he is, stayed put and smiled kindly at Dallon, "hi, I'm Patrick."

"I'm Dallon. Nice to meet you?" Dallon raised a brow.

Patrick walked passed the older man and spoke over his shoulder, "likewise!"

Pete drifted passed him and flung himself down on the L shaped couch in the living room, Brendon following and tucking his legs underneath himself. Patrick snorted before politely sitting next to Bren with his legs crossed.

"Okay? Um...what is it Beebs?"

Patrick had to physically restrain himself from laughing at the nickname and Brendon flushed red. Pete spluttered and choked before bursting into a giggle fit, making it harder for Patrick not to laugh.

"Okay Dal, me and Patrick here really need your help. Just keep that in mind..."

Confusion flashed across Dallon's face, "okay...?"

Brendon heaved a big breath before blatantly asking, "can you perform an exorcism?"

Dallon stalled, "I mean I've never actually done one but I've studied how to do it. I know what to do and everything...why exactly are you asking this?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Dallon just furrowed his brows and shrugged, making Brendon groan.

"Remember when I used to confide in you a year ago about how my mom was a witch?" At Dallon's nod he continued, "well it turns out I wasn't insane and that I'm actually a witch as well. Patrick here is a medium I guess."

Patrick did a little wave and Dallon looked around five seconds away from slapping Brendon across the face.

"Anyways, Patrick met a ghost named Pete who's here right now actually. Hi Pete!" Dallon sighed audibly, sounding exasperated and Brendon continued, "Pete told us some things about demons destroying the city so we're here to help and we recently found out that we need a priest."

Dallon rolled his eyes, "okay so, there are many fucking questions but first of all, I'm not a priest anymore. That job just wasn't for me."

"But Brendon is," Patrick murmured to a slightly miffed Pete who laughed harder. They both got a glare from Brendon.

"Okay, cool. I'm not asking you to go back to being a priest. I'm asking you to help us using your priest abilities."

Dallon sighed, "I'm gonna feel like a fraud if I do that."

"Um, no? You were actually a priest once, that doesn't make you a faker."

Dallon narrowed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair, "you were the reason why I quit in the first place, why do you want me to just drop everything and help you with your dumb mental health issues."

Brendon gaped, "excuse me?! It really wasn't my fault that you kissed me! And I'm not crazy, I have a spell to prove it."

Patrick paused and shared a look with Pete before gaping, "wait, what the fuck?"

Dallon covered his face with his hands and Brendon flushed, "uh, yeah...he kissed me."

Pete started laughing so hard that he snorted and Patrick had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Brendon looked equally embarrassed and exasperated.

"Look, I'm gonna go and run to the car to get the spell book. There's no getting out of this." Brendon turned and glared at Pete before settling his gaze on Patrick, "keep this idiot sane?"

Patrick nodded and Brendon got up and practically ran to the front door, leaving Patrick with Dallon.

"Before you ask, yes I was still a priest when it happened and we were in a church."

Patrick's eyes went wide, "um, I actually wasn't going to ask about anything, but okay?"

Dallon looked slightly miffed before shaking his head and sighing loudly.

Pete shifted in his spot next to Patrick and leaned in real close to the younger's ear, "isn't that illegal? Never mind, ask him some shit about Bren so that we have blackmail."

Patrick rolled his eyes, "so Dallon, why exactly did you kiss Brendon?"

The older startled before frowning, "it was a huge mutually pining relationship and Brendon was still homeschooled at the time. I had just recently graduated from high school and we were friends back then, really close actually. I guess we were a little bit more affectionate than most best friends...any ways, I was only a priest for about a month before I came to the realization that I couldn't do that profession any longer and I kissed him in the church right before I quit."

Pete sat forward in his seat and practically screeched, "did he kiss back?!"

"He can't hear you idiot."

Dallon frowned, "excuse me?"

"Nothing. Did Brendon kiss back?"

Dallon nodded, "nothing changed in our relationship and we just don't talk about that incident. I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me like that anymore."

Pete frowned, "but do you still like him?"

Patrick decided to ignore the spirit for the time being, "well, you may think that but with the way he's acting around you? I would assume he's head over heels."

Dallon blushed and opened his mouth to speak but Brendon was storming through the door carrying his large and sleek spell book. Speaking of spell books, the one Pete gave him was now sitting in the car.

"Okay! Dallon listen up! You're gonna believe me once this spell is over and then you're gonna help me!"

"You literally just stormed in my house and now you're making demands?"

"Well duh." Brendon huffed and sat down in the center of the room, facing Dallon. He flipped open to a bookmarked page and smiled before sighing. Patrick watched as the younger's eyes turned gold and Brendon started chanting in Latin. Pete squirmed in the seat next to him and Patrick raised a brow.

"Bad experience with this shit."

Patrick nodded and waited until the foggy aura of the room dissipated and Brendon stopped chanting. He watched as Dallon furrowed his brows at Bren before looking up at Patrick and noticing a new figure sitting next to the fedora clad teen.

"Holy fuck!"

Pete smirked, "hi."

"You believe me now?"

Dallon swallowed before nodding and Patrick giggled. Pete pressed against the younger's side and Patrick's heart skipped a beat.

Brendon beamed up at Dallon, "you gonna help us?"

Dallon seemed too shocked to do anything involving speaking at the moment so he just frantically nodded, making Pete chortle.

Patrick brushed off his jeans and stood up, pulling his red cardigan tighter around himself, "I'm gonna go make tea, you look like you need some."

So far, they now had a ghost, a witch, a medium, and a priest. Quite the team.

00000000000000000000000000000

 

When Dallon got over the initial shock over the situation and realized what he just agreed to, Brendon was practically on his lap on the couch. They were having a small conversation based solely on exorcisms and witch powers while Pete and Patrick were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the other end of the couch.

"Five bucks says that they'll get together before the end of this debacle."

Patrick raised a perfectly arched brow, "okay first of all, you're dead what to you even need money for? And second of all, Brendon's currently crushing on this college dropout who owns a music store."

Pete frowned, "just cuz I'm dead doesn't mean I can't place bets. Also, I've heard you blatantly call Brendon a slut, he's most likely going to have a three way with them."

"nah, probs find a way to have a polyamorous relationship with them."

Pete smirked, "ten bucks to Dallon then ten bucks to poly?"

Patrick nodded, "deal."

Patrick cleared his throat and both Brendon and Dallon looked over at him, the way Dallon's eyes flickered over to Pete didn't go unnoticed by Patrick.

"We kinda need to go now and see Aaron's house before it gets dark."

Brendon nodded, "right. Dallon, get ready we're leaving."

Dallon frowned, "why?"

"Well, I mean, we're kind of going to the house of the guy who shot and killed me. If he is the whole cause of this then demons will be flooding that area, its best advised if we have a guy who can perform an exorcism at hand, don't you think?"

Patrick hissed, "Pete, be nice."

The older shrugged, "you might want to bring a bible."

Brendon grabbed his spell book and tossed Dallon the car keys, instructing him to drive. The ex priest quickly grabbed a worn and torn priest bible before following the group outside and to the jeep.  
Dallon climbed in the front and Brendon sat next to him, leaving the back to Pete and Patrick. Patrick shifted and Pete sighed, casually resting his hand on the younger's knee. Patrick pretended that he wasn't blushing.

"Where even is this place we're going to?"

Brendon shrugged and Patrick spoke up, "um it's somewhere off the turn of Pine near the highway. It's close to the city."

Dallon nodded and glanced back at Pete in the mirror, bewilderment still on his face. 

Pete whispered to Patrick who was staring at the sunset, "so, leave the idiots outside to distract the parents while me and you search through the kid's room?"

Patrick glanced away from the window and nodded, smiling at the look on Pete's face. 

"There's our turn!"

Dallon turned sharply onto the highway and Patrick groaned when his knee hit the car door. Pete laughed at his pain.

"By the way, I never got to ask you this. How come you can like, interact with objects and shit?"

Pete shrugged, "it's because of our soul bond I guess. Our connection is really strong now so I can pretty much do anything. This is the first time I've had a form in years, it feels good."

Patrick hummed in response and didn't miss the way Pete shifted closer to him. His heart was pumping blood through his veins at an alarming rate, speeding up the thumping against his chest.

"S-stay on the highway for a while until you see an exit labeled Pine."

Dallon glanced back at them in the mirror and straightened his collar. Patrick saw Brendon indiscreetly inch closer to the middle console and settle his hand next to Dallon's. 

"Maybe they're just old fuck buddies?"

Pete turned red from restrained laughter at Patrick's whispered statement, "you can't withdrawal from the bet, Lunchbox!"

"No that wasn't what I was-wait, did you just call me Lunchbox?" Patrick raised his brows at Pete who shrugged and shifted closer yet again.

"Yeah, cute name for a cute boy."

Heat flared Patrick's cheeks and he quickly looked away. This reaction was unexpected, he honestly didn't think Pete would ever call him cute. The ghost was probably just teasing him and Patrick was headset on that thought.

"Patrick! Is this the house?"

Patrick looked up at Brendon's expectant face and then towards the cookie cutter blue house out the window. The numbers on the house read 365 and he nodded.

"Yeah, just pull up here and you and Dallon can go introduce yourselves or something."

"Why us?"

Pete spoke up, "because I'm a ghost and Patrick can see ghosts and demons so if he freaks out they're going to kick him out. Also, you guys need to distract the parents while we climb up to the kid's bedroom window."

Brendon looked close to protesting but Dallon intercepted, "what do we say?"

Pete frowned, "say you're a married gay couple looking for the disappearances of your two daughters."

Brendon blushed hard and glared at Pete while Dallon looked flustered before settling back on a neutral expression, "okay, fine. Our daughter's names are Petra and Patricia, you ready Bren?"

Patrick stalled, "wait hold up, we are not your daughters."

Dallon smirked, "didn't say you were. Always liked the names."

Brendon laughed and hopped out of the car, Dallon following.

Pete and Patrick quickly jumped out of the jeep and sped over to the side of the house, waiting until they heard voices and the closing of a door.

"You sure they'll be able to sell the fact that they're looking for their kids?"

"Totally, Brendon is in theatre with me, he's a wonderful actor."

Pete nodded and squinted up at the second floor windows before pointing at one a little aways from them, "that one appears to be unlocked and has space decorated curtains, might have been Aaron's?"

Patrick followed his gaze and swallowed, "yeah okay. How we gonna get up there?"

Pete smirked and walked away so that he was right underneath the window. He then knelt down and folded his hands together to make a stool.

"Oh, no way am I going up there."

Pete huffed, "c'mon! I'm not going in there alone and you're lighter than me so get over here."

Patrick growled before reluctantly stepping into Pete's makeshift step and leaning against the wall. Pete lifted him up and Patrick stepped onto the older's shoulders, reaching up and feeling for the opening to the window. He groaned audibly as he realized that he was too short to reach.

"Ugh, Pete I'm too short. I can't reach!"

Pete chuckled, "fuck, okay yeah. I'm gonna stand so hold on."

Patrick nodded and Pete carefully stood up. He felt around and smirked as he threw open the window before hauling himself in. He turned around once he was in the room and frowned when he saw that Pete wasn't there anymore.

"Boo!"

Patrick jumped and turned around, making him face to face with Pete.

"What the hell?!"

Pete's face took on a more startled expression rather than smug and he hurried to quiet the younger, "shhh! This house has paper thin walls and I just walked through most of them. Library voices."

Patrick made a face as if to say "fuck  
Off" and Pete giggled. He huffed and turned around in the small bedroom, coughing from all of the dust.

"Geez, it's like no one's been here since...whatever happened."

Pete nodded and sighed, brushing off a rather large book with a pentagram on the front, "huh, guess you were right about the satanic rituals, 'tricky."

Patrick looked over and scowled, "didn't even try to hide what he does in his free time."

The sound of rustling and pounding came from the closet and Patrick stilled, giving Pete a frightened glance.

"Demons...just ignore them. Let's be quick about this okay?" Pete gave Patrick a pointed look and the younger nodded, watching Pete set the book down near the open window.

Patrick looked around the space decorated room and hummed. Where would a teenager hide his satanic possessions? Patrick rose up on his tiptoes and peered over a bookshelf. Nothing. He looked back at Pete who was busy going through a worn cardboard box before spotting something under the bed.  
He heaved a sigh before getting down on all fours and sticking his head underneath the wooden bed frame. There was a rather large wood box that had old books and jars filled with some sort of liquid. Patrick pulled it out and searched. He flipped through the spell and ritual books, trying desperately to find the address where Aaron and Frank would meet safely.

"You got something?"

Patrick jumped at Pete's voice and shook his head, "no, nothing."

Pete knelt down next to him and helped him search before gagging at one of the jars, "really? The kid had ectoplasm? I don't even wanna know where he got this...fucking gross."

Patrick shook his head and picked up another book. This one didn't have a title and Patrick opened it to the first page. There, scrawled on the inside, was where the address was.

"Pete."

Pete looked over, "yeah Lunchbox?"

Patrick swallowed and read the words again, "the address is in the closet. Inside the tiny door leading to the attic."

"Well, fuck."


	5. Main Course: Demon Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I saw Panic! on April 2nd and I'm still crying from it so...fight me irl

"Okay, so in order to even go in that closet without getting possessed or ripped to shreds, we're gonna need a protection spell."

Patrick frowned at Pete, wringing his shaking hands together, "Brendon's downstairs talking to the parents, we can't do a spell without him."

"Actually, yes we can. We need to be quick though because there's a time limit on the spell if you're not a witch."

Patrick glanced down at the ground, "there's another time limit, one that we don't know how much time we are left with; Brendon and Dallon can't stall them forever."

Pete nodded, "they'll also figure out that Brendon does not look old enough to have kids."

"How long then?"

Pete closed his eyes and stood up, "The spell won't take long to perform but it only lasts five minutes. We're gonna need to get in there and find that fucking address fast."

Patrick fiddled with his thumbs, "uh, what spell book do we use?"

"You still got the one that I gave you?"

"Uh, yeah it's in the car."

Pete cursed and looked at Patrick, "okay, stay here. I'll only be gone a second to get the book and then we can do that Protection spell."

Patrick startled and stood up fast, grabbing Pete's arm, "No! Pete, don't leave me here alone."

"I'll only be gone for a second."

Patrick furrowed his brows, "then I'll come with you."

Pete sighed and shook Patrick's hand off his arm, "you and I both know that that's not an option. We'll waste too much time that way, it's better if I just go alone."

"Pete," Patrick looked at the older and opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by the ghost in front of him.

"Trust me, you're fine. Just don't. Go. In. That. Closet. Promise me."

Patrick nodded and bit his lip, "I promise."

Pete smiled and ruffled his hair, "good boy. I'll be back in a flash."

Pete disappeared through the walls of the house and Patrick immediately retreated to the corner furthest from the closet door. He tucked his knees up to his chest and rested his chin atop. Wrapping his arms around his knees, Patrick squeezed his eyes shut. Loud bangs came from the closet door and Patrick glanced up, seeing the door rattle on its hinges from being abused. 

"C'mon Pete, hurry..."

The door caved a little bit at the next blow and Patrick jumped. A low growling resonating from the closet and shadows danced underneath the door. Patrick pulled his sleeves down over his hands and kept his eyes locked on the door. The banging became more frequent and strong. One particularly loud blow had the door almost flying off its hinges. Patrick shivered and wished for Pete.

"Alright! I'm-"

Patrick screamed and Pete had to rush over to cover the younger's mouth.

"Patrick! Chill! It's me dude!"

Patrick felt his heart thumping against his rib cage and calmed down when he saw the ghost's form.

"You okay?"

Patrick nodded, "yeah I'm fine. The demons are getting restless so let's be quick about this."

Pete looked back at the closet door and grimaced before pulling out the small leather bound book and sitting down next to Patrick. He quickly grabbed the younger's hands and Patrick shivered at Pete's cold fingers.

"Jesus Christ I knew you were dead but this heightens it."

Pete chuckled and shook his head fondly, making a small smile appear on Patrick's face. Pete flipped open the spell book and began chanting words that Patrick didn't understand. He felt a warm glow bask his skin and he instantly felt safe.   
When Pete stopped chanting he pocketed the spell book and stood up, pulling Patrick up along with him. Patrick shared a look with Pete and they both started towards the rattling closet door.

"What if they get out?"

Pete shook his head, "it looks like they've tried before. They must be confined to the room. The only people that I'm worried about making it out of there are us."

Patrick swallowed and stood back as Pete gently put his hand on the doorknob. As soon as his hand touched the cool metal the pounding stopped and an eerie silence came over them. He flung open the door only to reveal nothing there. Patrick looked at the older before Pete disappeared inside the dark closet. Patrick followed the glow of Pete's ghostly form inside the dark closet before pulling out his phone and clicking on the flashlight.   
The closet door banged shut behind him and Pete cursed. Patrick grabbed ahold of the spirit's shoulder and watched as the older opened a small door in the back of the closet. Pete looked back at him before slowly climbing inside, Patrick following.

"I don't understand...where are they?"

Pete shook his head, "they won't show themselves unless they want to attack. Be quick and start going through those boxes, we have five minutes then this spell wears off."

Patrick shined his flashlight towards the back of the attic, revealing overfilled boxes stacked on each other.

"Where would he hide an address?"

Patrick shuffled stuff away from the walls and started going through boxes, looking for a tiny slip of paper. He went through three whole ones before Pete cursed loudly.

"What is it?"

The ghost was on his knees desperately moving stuff around, "Aaron was too smart of a kid to just put the address on a slip of paper and hide it. It's gotta be hidden well, probably written on the walls."

Patrick nodded and started to move boxes and old furniture away from the molding walls. 

"Hurry up! We only got two minutes!"

Patrick felt his heart pick up pace and he swallowed hard. His foot go caught on the edge of a floorboard that was sticking out of the ground and he went crashing down hard on his side. Patrick grunted before sitting up and rubbing his bruised shoulder. He shone his flashlight on the spot where he fell, noticing the loose floorboard.

"Pete! Over here!"

The ghost appeared at his side in seconds and Patrick pulled the board up and out of the floor, revealing a hidden compartment.

"There."

Patrick looked under the board and saw the address written down, "bingo."

He pulled out his phone and quickly took a pic before looking back in the compartment. Books and notes were left on the inside, haphazardly thrown around.  
Patrick took as many as he could and put them in a wooden box before standing up quickly and handing the box to Pete.

"Let's go."

Pete nodded at him and Patrick put the floor board back before following the spirit out the small door. He felt a compelling force that made him want to stay. Patrick swallowed loudly, afraid to turn around and face whatever was breathing down his neck. He felt demon saliva drip onto his shoulder and burn his skin, making a squeak emit from his mouth. Low growling sounded from directly behind Patrick and he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Pete," he gasped, "how long do we have left?"

Pete turned around, "I don't know, why?"

A clawed hand wrapped around Patrick's ankle and he looked back up at Pete, "I think the spell wore off..."

And then he was being pulled backwards with unnatural strength into the attic. The door slammed shut in front of him, muffling his screams. He distantly heard Pete calling out to him as multiple claws ripped at his skin.  
The last thing he felt before he blacked out was the sensation of someone climbing inside his body and a white hot heat burning inside of his chest.

0000000000000000000000000000

Brendon could not keep up this act forever. The father was supportive and helpful, trying to piece together what little information Dallon had given them to find their fake daughters. While the mother kept squinting at Brendon and furrowing her eyebrows, it was as if she knew what was happening or awaiting something bad. It wouldn't be long until she found out that Brendon was not even old enough to adopt or marry. This would most likely leave the mother yelling at both of them and finding out that, yeah, there's two guys in your son's room.   
Which leaves a question, there's no pictures of their son anywhere. Was the kid arrested or wiped from existence? Brendon smiled to himself as he wrote out a dumb conspiracy theory in his brain and startled when Dallon lightly hit him in the side with his elbow.

"What?"

Mr. and Mrs. Flake were both looking directly at him and Brendon turned to Dallon for help.

"What's going on?"

Dallon rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak when there was a particularly loud bang resonating from upstairs followed by a muffled scream.

Brendon gave Dallon a look and the parents smiled calmly at them, "ah, probably just the neighborhood kids throwing the ball against our house again..."

Brendon raised a brow. The family was defending an unusual sound that came from upstairs when Brendon and Dallon should be the ones defending their friends. Okay, creepy. This just fueled the conspiracy theories Brendon was writing out.

"Ah, yes. We have kids in our neighborhood that do that all the time, quite annoying if you ask me."

Brendon fake smiled at the couple after Dallon finished his statement. A shiver ran down his spine and he knew that the bang was not from kids.

"Well, we should probably get going now, post missing posters and what not."

The couple only smiled and Brendon turned his head to the sound of pounding feet coming down the stairs. Pete was running over to them and Brendon raised a brow at the spirit's frightened face.

"We need an exorcism pronto."

Dallon immediately jumped up and turned to the family, "yes, we should take our leave."

Brendon stood on shaking legs and his thoughts turned to Patrick.

"So soon?"

Brendon swallowed, "yes, I'm awfully sorry. Thank you though for your help."

The father smiled and the Mother only nodded, "I hope you save your friend in time. Demons are a horrible thing to get rid off once they've nested in a body."

Brendon's heart stopped, "excuse me?"

Mrs. Flake smiled, "you should probably go. Time is running out for your friend."

Brendon hesitated with a million questions on the tip of his tongue. He shook his head, deciding to wait until later to ask about anything. He turned heel and high tailed it out of the house, Dallon and Pete following behind him, saving the question of how the Mother knew about everything for later.

"Where's Patrick?"

Pete pointed to the ground underneath the window and Brendon raced over to the jeep, pulling out his spell book and Dallon's bible. Dallon and Pete were already kneeling beside Patrick's convulsing form.  
Brendon threw the Bible at Dallon and immediately began chanting a protection spell for the three of them. Dallon had flipped to the correct page and pulled out a crucifix necklace along with a bottle of holy water.

Pete raised a brow, "do you just carry that shit around with you?"

Dallon rolled his eyes, "you told me we might need to perform an exorcism, I brought the needed supplies." He pulled out a small and white candle, lighting the wick with a match. Pete looked exasperated.

Brendon hissed at both of them, "shut up! I can't concentrate!"

He saw Pete roll his eyes before Brendon shut his, beginning the chant again. A sense of warmth and power washed over him and a warm glow decorated their forms before disappearing, showing that the trio were protected from demons for as long as they'd like.

"Okay," Brendon turned to Dallon after the spell and spoke quietly, "do your thing."

Dallon nodded and dipped the cross in holy water before holding it above Patrick's form. He began a chant that had both Pete and Brendon shivering, them being supernatural beings. In the middle of the exorcism, Patrick's eyes flung open and were all black, a terrified screeching noise coming from deep in his throat. Pete squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears at the high pitch of the noise and Brendon quickly followed suit, admiring how Dallon didn't have any reaction to the possessed Patrick's actions.  
A wet gargle came from Patrick's mouth, black liquid spewing from his lips. Brendon grimaced and watched as his friend tried to sit up and attack Dallon. He quickly flew forward and grabbed Patrick's shoulders, Pete coming to help him.   
Dallon was chanting as though nothing bad was happening next to him and Brendon struggled to hold down Patrick. He grunted when the shorter tore away from him with unnatural strength and growled, starting towards Dallon once again.

"Pete! Protect Dal!"

Pete caught Patrick in a tackle and pinned him down, ignoring the pained screeches from the younger. Dallon was yelling now and Brendon was struggling to hold down his friend's kicking legs. One particular kick caught him right on the nose and Brendon instantly heard a crack, feeling warm liquid trickle onto his lips and tongue. He heard a muffled scream and watched as Pete tried to stop Patrick from biting him.  
Brendon heaved a breath before pulling Patrick off of Pete and trying desperately to get his possessed friend to stay down. The demon inside of 'Trick just wouldn't let up and continued to fight. Brendon was repeatedly kneed in the sides, kicked, and punched everywhere. He saw Pete drag Patrick away who was still growling. If it weren't for the ghost Patrick would've probably stopped at nothing to kill him.  
Brendon groaned and listened to the screams of his best friend along with the last words of the exorcism being shouted by Dallon. He sighed as Patrick collapsed into Pete's arms and grimaced as a fuck ton of thick black liquid flowed from the fedora clad teen's mouth. 

"Is it over?" He panted the words, sitting up and flinching at the pain resonating from everywhere.

Dallon nodded and went over to Brendon who smiled up at him. Dallon attempted a smile back before helping the younger up and hugging him gently.

"What's this for?"

"Forgot how much I missed you."

And fuck, Brendon's heart jumped a beat, then two. He was falling so hard and so fast that he was afraid he'll never be able to get back on his feet. He blushed and smiled, nodding in response to Dallon.

"Missed you too, Dal..."

A spluttering cough drew their attention away from each other and Brendon's eyes widened at the sight of Patrick sitting up and leaning against Pete, a pained moan slipping from his lips.

"Fuck, Pete...where-?"

Pete shushed him and Brendon rushed over to Patrick before the ghost could talk.

"Treestump! Oh Man, you got fucking possessed and attacked us and black liquid was coming out of your mouth and your eyes were black and you were screaming and I was terrified also-"

Patrick groaned, "my head hurts, stop rambling," he opened his eyes and smiled at Brendon before noticing his broken nose, "dude what the fuck? Did I do that?"

Brendon furrowed his brows before noticing catching on to what he was talking about, "oh, yeah it's nothing though. I got healing spells so..."

Dallon handed him a cloth and he pressed it against his bleeding nose, smiling down at Pete and Patrick. Patrick gasped, pulling out his phone and bringing up a picture while Brendon closed his eyes and murmured the Latin spell to healing. He took away the bloody cloth after his nose painlessly shifted back into place.

"I almost forgot! We found the address and some books that might help you with your Magic, Bren!"

Brendon smiled and Pete put a hand on the brunette's shoulder, "yeah, they're in a box in the backseat of the jeep."

Brendon nodded and squinted at the phone screen when Patrick revealed the address. Not for the first time, he wished he'd brought his glasses.  
The address read 542 North Alleywood St. and Brendon thought on it, "sounds familiar."

"Woah, hold up...isn't that where you said Ryan lives?"

Brendon grimaced, "shit...I just blew him and Spence off a couple days ago."

"Enough on ditching your friend and more on the fact that his house is completely blessed?"

Brendon turned to Pete, "yeah I guess that's odd. We should head over there and talk to him about it, get him in on this.

Patrick gave him an incredulous look, "really? After I just got possessed? No, tomorrow we'll go. Right now we all need to rest, a whole lot of shit happened today including death and exorcisms."

Brendon looked ready to argue but Dallon cut in right before he could even do so much as pout, "exactly. Plus it's getting dark and searching for things is really hard to do when the sun is down, we can go over to Ryan's early tomorrow."

The others nodded and Brendon felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. A coldness washed over his skin, goosebumps crawling across his body. He turned when a smooth voice sounded from directly behind him, ogling at the man's tattoos.

"Exactly! You guys can do that tomorrow and right now you can help me look for a beautiful doll of a vampire."

Brendon felt a hand pull him farther away from the short man and looked back at a concerned Dallon who put his body protectively in front of Brendon's.

Pete's voice was ecstatic but slightly clipped, "Where've you been, Frank?"

Brendon looked back in time to see Patrick mouth two simple words, "oh, shit."

Oh shit indeed Patrick, oh shit indeed.


	6. Bring Your Vampire To Work Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a filler? Idk...also happy belated b day to Gee and happy early b day to Bren...happy birthday to anyone who had a birthday on those dates as well. Screw it, shout out to everyone's birthday.

Patrick was still slightly dizzy and the inside of his body felt used. Everywhere hurt and a weird sulfuric taste was in his mouth. All in all, he really wanted a shower and some sleep. As of right now though, he couldn't have that until later. Later was looking to be more of a 'way later' at the moment...

Frank was grinning at them, leading the four unlikely friends into a dark forest two miles away from Aaron's house. Patrick was irritated and still angry at the fact that they weren't allowed to bring the jeep because Brendon's mom had blessed it when she first gave it to him, making it so that no demon whatsoever could enter it, Including Frank. Brendon of course had proposed the idea of making Frank walk but that plan turned on him when Frank almost literally jumped his bones. Patrick grimaced at the memory and more black liquid ran from his nose. He groaned and reached up to wipe it away, glaring at Frank's back.

"Who's the vampire you're trying to find?"

He heard Frank growl and he immediately walked closer to Pete, "he's got bright red hair, soft in all the right places, bony in the rest."

Pete raised a brow, "that doesn't really help us."

"He stole something of mine and I want it back. Shouldn't have invited the bitch in,   
he's too pretty for his own good."

It was Brendon's turn to speak and Patrick smiled when he saw Dallon protectively walking right next to Bren, "okay...what's his name?"

Frank smiled, "Gerard Way. Him and his brother are both kings in the vampire clans. Us other supernatural beings tend to stay away from vampires and werewolves, they're bad news."

Patrick nodded and sighed deeply when Frank finally stopped walking. They were in a clearing where the ground and vegetation had burned away, trees rotting inwards and making a canopy above them. He shivered and subconsciously grabbed ahold of Pete's cold hand.

"How we gonna do this again?"

Patrick was still surprised at how nonchalant the ghost was towards the demon. Apparently, they had known each other for years and according to Pete, Frank was actually pretty chill once you got to know him. Right now though, Patrick was slightly terrified of the half demon.

"I need your little boy toy's help," He turned towards Brendon, "and the forehead's as well."

Patrick felt Pete's body tense up next to him and the ghost tightened his hold on the younger's hand. Patrick snuck a glance over at Brendon who looked mildly offended at being called a forehead, then over to Dallon who was next to Bren and saw the anger in his eyes.

"No."

Patrick flinched at the cold tone of voice that Pete used and Frank raised a brow.

"I'm helping you, idiot. Gerard has something of mine that is a key to opening many doors when defeating the asshole demons. He may also be able to help us."

Dallon furrowed his brows, "how'd he even take it from you anyways?"

Frank blushed and looked away, "I was bored, he was bored. Let's just say things got carried away and vampires aren't trustworthy, never were and never will be."

Pete snorted and Frank walked over to Patrick, gently tearing him away from Pete who growled in defiance. Patrick rolled his eyes and willingly walked with Frank over to Brendon. Brendon lightly pushed Dallon aside and walked passed him, standing next to the half demon and medium.

"Okay, what now?"

Frank smirked and pushed the two into a more central position inside the clearing. Patrick watched as Frank pulled out a book with a pentagram on the front and he rolled his eyes at the cliche.

"Okay, so this is pretty much a sacrifice spell and I need Brendon to perform it."

Brendon grabbed the book and flinched at the words, "no way, my mother told me about black magic and I'm not going down that path."

Frank cocked a hip and glared down the brunette, making Patrick uneasy, "it won't destroy your soul unless the sacrifice is made. Just say those words and do your thing then Gerard will come running. I'll grab him before he can do anything."

"Okay, yeah, but what are we sacrificing?"

Frank looked at Brendon then towards Patrick who stood frozen and Pete immediately spoke up.

"Oh hell no, we are not using Patrick as fucking bait!"

Frank just simply raised a brow and Patrick swallowed passed the lump in his throat, "I mean, as long as I don't die I'm fine with it I guess..."

Pete gave him an incredulous look and Dallon scoffed.

"There is absolutely no way that you're doing this, you do know that right?"

Patrick shrugged, Pete looked five seconds away from slapping the shit out of him.

"Oh please Pete, you seemed fine going in a closet full of demons with me but now you won't let me do this?"

"That's because we had a protection spell!"

Patrick shook his head, "yeah? Such protection, huh? That's why I ended up fucking possessed, isn't it? I'm doing this, Peter, and you can't do shit."

Pete blanked and Patrick scowled, "just do it, Bden."

Brendon stalled before starting to chant the spell. This time his eyes turned a dark silver rather than the pure gold. Patrick felt shivers run down his spine and cold air overcame his body. He heard a curse to his right and translated it to Dallon's voice.  
When Brendon stopped chanting Frank was immediately at his side. A loud rustling sound grew closer and Frank crouched into a ready position before leaping forward. Patrick's heart stalled when a blurred figure slowed down and slammed straight into Frank. Frank, although shorter, was considerably stronger and had pinned the vampire within seconds.

"Give it back Gee."

The vampire growled before spluttering and coughing, "man, I was waiting for this, y'know."

Frank froze and leaned in real close to the vampire's ear, "you little shit! You fucking planned this!"

A joyful giggle came from Gerard's mouth, "yep, didn't have a phone so a callback wouldn't work, needed to make sure I had something special so that you would come and get me."

Frank growled and Gerard purred as the half demon whispered something in his ear that Patrick couldn't quite catch before letting the vampire go. Gerard stood up and brushed himself off, that's when Patrick got a good look at him.  
He had fire truck red hair and was wearing tight jeans. He sported an oversized band shirt and there was a faint coloring to his lips suggesting that he had recently taken a drink from someone.

"Oh, hey company? I'm Gerard."

Frank groaned, "hey baby, how bout you give me back that thing, huh?"

Gerard stared into Frank's eyes, "nah, Frankie, I'm gonna hang with you from now on so why don't I keep it safe for you?"

Frank full on growled and his eyes turned black. Gerard only laughed, "c'mon it'll be fun, plus I know you guys kind of need my help since most vampires and demons go hand-in-hand."

Frank stopped growling and glared instead, a hint of a smile on his lips, "fine. Any info on the vamps or what?"

"Yeah, there's a clan tagging along with your little demon buddies. For some reason everyone really wants to take over Chicago..."

Dallon spoke up and Patrick realized that he had moved closer to Brendon, "can you take care of them or not?"

Gerard hissed, "you have a fucking priest?! Shit, this is serious! Okay, stay there and do not get near me."

Dallon cocked a brow and Brendon laughed loudly, making Gerard scowl and Frank sigh. Patrick was just mildly confused about this whole situation.

"What's the deal with you and priests?"

"I'm an ex priest thank you. And priests were what hunted down most of the vampires during the twenties, subtracting more than half of their population from the world. I also have holy water..." Dallon had spoken up before Gerard could and the vampire nodded along to the man's words.

 

"And for your information, yes I can take them down. I'm like, a billion times more powerful than them, also I have Mikey."

"So," Brendon fidgeted in his place, "you're like our spy on the inside or something?"

Gerard nodded and Frank sighed, "we're technically stuck with him since he stole something important to all of us. Get used to him."

"Okay but, do we have a half demon with us now or are you going to keeping leaving us and coming back with absurd tasks?"

Frank scowled and Patrick turned towards Pete who had spoken. The ghost was keeping a reasonable distance from the medium and Patrick felt a twinge of guilt for being so sharp with him. He wrote a mental note to apologize to his friend.

"No, I have business to attend to that involves building you guys an army because whether you like it or not, this is going to lead to an all out war. I also have to get information on the demons for you. You idiots don't need me holding your hands through this, I'm on the other side helping you. I'll visit frequently to tell you shit or I might just send Gerard."

Brendon raised a brow, "you're taking the vamp with you?"

"He kinda has too, he's sorta afraid that I'll run off with his prized possession. We make a good team anyways."

Patrick caught the slight hint of a smile on Frank's face and sighed.

"What do we do now?"

"I suggest going home and resting maybe? Then go to that house tomorrow, you guys are heading in the right place with this whole debacle."

Pete raised a brow, "that's it? Really? You just dragged us here for this vampire and now you're tossing us like trash? This was an inconvenience for all of us."

"What, Pete? You expected there to be more to this?"

"Actually, yeah. This whole thing lasted pretty quick. What the fuck?"

"I needed Gerard in this and you guys do too. Trust me. You might want to go talk to that other ghost you found, he knows a whole lot about this than either of us do, his boyfriend was a hunter."

"Okay but that still doesn't answer my question, why did you send us out here?"

Gerard smiled, "because the demons are recruiting vampires and Frankie here needed back what I stole from him and because I stole that particular item, he thought I was with the others. If I was with them then you guys would have no chance, I'm the king of all vampires."

"If it'll make you feel better, Gerard has been in many wars before so he knows how to handle this shit, reason number fucking two why I needed him."

"Also I'm a good fuck."

"That too."

Patrick was honestly ready to go home, all this new and confusing information was making him feel ill. He was practically dead on his feet and the dizziness was getting stronger as more black liquid continued to run down his nose. He felt uncomfortable and reached up to wipe it away, suddenly feeling like he couldn't control his own limbs. Patrick opened his mouth to talk but instead coughed on the horrid taste of the liquid and grimaced as he felt it spew from his mouth.  
The world was beginning to look fuzzy and his vision tunneled. He stumbled as he reached for Pete and tried to call out for him, only letting loose a wet gargle. He whimpered as black spots crept into his vision and his lungs filled with the mysterious liquid.  
He saw Pete make eye contact with him just as the world tilted and the ground came out from underneath him. Pain shooted up his skull as he collided hard with the ground and a shout of shock was ripped from his throat. The last thing he felt was a pair of cold arms gently envelope him.

0000000000000000000000000000

When Patrick came to, it was to the sight of Brendon standing above him and Pete sitting next to his head. The first thing he noticed was that everything in the room he was in looked familiar. It took him a total of five seconds to realize that he was in Brendon's house and that Dallon was standing in the doorway.   
Grace seemed to not be there and it made a twinge of worry fill Patrick's heart. He looked over and saw Brendon mouthing at him and it took Patrick about ten seconds this time to realize that he couldn't hear past the rushing in his ears.  
He took a rattling deep breath in only to choke up more liquid. As he coughed some more his hearing began to come back much to his relief.

"Bren?"

His voice sounded hoarse and scratchy and Brendon was immediately at his side, hugging him.

"Treestump! You okay man?"

Patrick nodded then shrugged, feeling just okay and not perfectly fine or too bad. He looked over Brendon's shoulder to see Dallon talking to Pete and his heart yearned for the ghost's cold contact.

"Pete," he had said the name before he even registered what was coming out of his own mouth. Pete had turned around and smiled, starting forwards to see Patrick. The younger saw Brendon pull away and stand next to Dallon, murmuring to the older.

"You're okay."

"Yeah, I guess. What happened?"

Pete shook his head, "you just passed out and that weird black shit was pouring from your mouth again. It freaked us the fuck out and Brendon performed a cleansing spell once we got you back. He did a Protection one as well."

Patrick nodded, "what about Gerard and Frank?"

"They were going to leave after they saw you go down but Frank stayed to make sure you were fine. Now they're back on the other side, kidnapping demons and torturing the shit out of them to get information."

"You're kidding me?"

"Nope, Frank's a weird fucker and, what I know from tonight, Gerard is pretty sadistic. He's on our side though so that's good, thank fuck. If he wasn't, we'd already be dead."

Patrick sighed and smiled up at the ghost, "what time is it?" He croaked.

"Eh, around three in the morning? I think. Hold up."

Patrick flinched when Pete raised his voice, "Bden! What time is it?"

"Half past four!"

Pete turned back to Patrick and grimaced, "haven't really been keeping track of the time..."

Patrick made a move to get up but Pete held him down firmly, "stay. You just passed out man."

Patrick rolled his eyes and was about to argue but something that was written on the spirit's face told him not to. It kinda reminded him of when he was younger and his mom-oh shit, his mom!

"Fuck! Brendon, my mother doesn't know where I am and it's been like, three days! Four counting the fact that is four am!"

"Yeah, so? You come over here all the time, it's not like she doesn't know where you are."

"That's the thing, I just left with you three days ago when I told her we were just gonna head up to my room and you were going to show me something. We snuck out and I haven't been back since! She's gonna be pissed!"

"Well, I mean, you think she really noticed you were gone?"

And fuck, that struck a nerve. Patrick knew Brendon didn't mean anything by it, that it was just Bren being Bren, but still. It was more so of the fact that he was right. Patrick could disappear for a week and his mom wouldn't have even noticed he was gone. He's done it before.   
His mom only sometimes would actually care for him, like when he went though a huge depressive spell before he met Brendon. That was when she cared, oddly enough. It hurt him to think that she actually didn't notice he had left.

"You're right, she most likely still thinks that I'm up in my room, reading or some shit."

Pete frowned down at Patrick but the teen ignored him. 

"You know I didn't mean anything nasty by it-"

"Yeah, it just still hurts y'know?"

Brendon nodded in sympathy and plopped down on the hardwood floor next to Patrick and reached out to touch the older's velvet fedora. Patrick scowled and slapped his hand away, self consciously repositioning it.

"How about I get my mom to just adopt you or something, that way we can actually be best friend brothers."

Patrick laughed, "yeah right, you'll get sick of me."

"Nah man, my mom already loves you like her own son, plus you practically live here anyways, it'll just be more official."

Patrick knew how unrealistic the offer was but he couldn't help but dream, "sure Beebo, whatever makes you happy."

"Yeah, totally! And like, Dallon can move in and be our personal chef or something! Trust me, he's a really good cook! Pete can like, do whatever the fuck it is that Pete does."

Pete snorted and Patrick laughed with Dallon, "how 'bout we do a ghost hunting channel and have Pete purposefully knock things over to get views? Haunt the house and shit."

Pete scowled, "fucking excuse me sir, I can do more than just haunt, thank you very much." 

Dallon said the next sentence in a mocking tone, making Brendon laugh harder, "how inconsiderate to spirits, check your privilege."

Patrick smiled and met eyes with the ghost, immediately averting eye contact. He blushed and sighed when a warm feeling sprouted in his heart and he came to a sudden realization when he looked back up at Pete's transparent face.

 

He was in love with a fucking ghost.

"Where now?"

He was startled out of his own little revelation when Brendon spoke up and Dallon sighed, "when we've all rested and Patrick no longer spews disgusting black stuff from his mouth, then we can head over to your friend's house and initiate him I guess?"

"Yeah, why are we even gonna talk to the kid in the first place? We could just totally sneak into his house and perform the ritual to summon a demon and get info from them."

Patrick frowned, "uh, I thought Frank was the demon that he talked to?"

"Nah, Frank was there to talk the kid down sometimes since he's not a real demon and can't be there all the time. There was another one though, he'll be able to tell us what's going down and he won't be able to do shit to us, he's trapped there until we release him."

Brendon spoke up, "yeah okay but we're telling Ryro, he's my friend and I don't want to have an awkward conversation with him when he tries to confront me as to why I've been ditching him as of late."

"So we tell him and try to go inside his house? He'll think we're crazy?"

Brendon took a minute to think before answering, "then I'll perform the ritual secretly while inside and then tell him so that way he can't kick me out for being crazy because he needs me to send the demon away."

Pete opened his mouth then closed it twice in disbelief before answering, "there have been better plans...but I guess we have to tell your friend?" At Brendon's nod he sighed and continued, "then that settles it, tell him all this shit after demons or before?"

Patrick really wanted the before option to happen so that they don't look really fucking crazy. Although the after one seems funny...  
He yawned loudly and earned the attention from Pete and met eyes with the ghost who smiled. Patrick blushed and looked down as the ghost leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

"Sleep, Lunchbox."

It was like those two words were a certain form of magic because barley even before the older had finished his sentence Patrick's eyes were dropping from exhaustion.

"G'night 'tricky."

 

Another yawn, "night Pete."


	7. Who Knew Demons Had Morals?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Young And Menace is my fav fucking thing and to those hating on it; square up. (Also happy late birthday to Patrick Stump, The smol and adorable bunny)

Gerard pouted at the retreating figure of Frank. He crossed his ankles and leaned his chin on his hands, harrumphing at the uncomfortable park bench.

"Why are we here?"

Frank turned and smiled, walking back to the red haired man, "well, you're being a bitch and I have a very important meeting in this park."

Gerard growled and flashed his red eyes up at Frank who rolled his own, "don't Gee, I get it, you're fucking powerful. I'm sorry... I guess."

Gerard purred, "thank you."

Frank sighed, "anytime baby."

Gerard went back to pouting as soon as Frank went back to anxiously pacing. He picked at the ends of his jacket sleeves and sighed loudly to get the younger's attention. When that didn't work he sighed again...and again.

"What Gee?"

"Why this park? Like, really? Couldn't we have done something more close to Chicago so we can keep an eye on the dorks?"

He barely heard the mumble of Frank, "didn't know you were so fond of them," Gerard in return grabbed a pine cone and hurled it at the half demon's face. It hit him in the middle of the forehead.

"Ow! Okay, geez. Look, Central Park was the only place they would agree to and I think it's because of how open and public it is."

Gerard mock cooed, "aw, they're scared of us!"

A quiet and tired voice boomed from Gerard's left and he squealed, "on the contrary, we're actually afraid of what we'll do to you."

Frank straightened his shirt and smiled at the man next to Gerard. Gerard hurried to stand next to Frank.

"Ah! Andy, Joe, just in time."

Gerard huffed, "as always."

Joe spoke up, "well, at least we aren't always late like Pete."

They all laughed and Frank invited them over to a park bench, shooing Gerard away with a simple hand gesture. The older growled under his breath but was silenced by one look from the demon's black eyes. He shuffled away from the animated group and over to a tall tree not very far from them. He smirked and started to climb, using his inhuman strength to an advantage.  
When he reached a reasonably high perch he huffed and tuned in to their conversation with his unnaturally good hearing. He must've given something away because Frank glanced up at him in the tree and snorted before going back to talking to the two next to him. Gerard chuckled and happily kicked his legs in the tree branch.  
He saw Frank give Andy and Joe his full attention and furrow his brows. Gerard bit his lip knowing fully what was going on.

"I can't see his future, which is a huge problem if he's your so called 'savior' or whatever."

Frank grumbled, "he's just a big helping hand in this situation, not a savior."

Andy spoke up, "but he'll be able to help wake Pete?"

Gerard leaned forward in anticipation.

"You say that like he's not really dead and just sleeping."

"Yeah, I prefer to call it 'permanently hibernating.' It flows better."

Gerard snorted and Frank discretely flashed him a glare to silence him. Gee wasn't supposed to be listening but sometimes Frank was too good to him. He smiled and tuned in.

"Yes, he'll be able to...I think."

"Why do you want to wake him?"

Frank sighed loudly and shook his head, frowning, "I made a deal with him. I needed his help, y'know? So I just thought if I bargained for his life then he'd help. He got me my witch and the medium was just a tag along. Now that I'm thinking of it, the medium could be the whole fucking clue to stopping this."

"Sounds complicated."

Frank laughed, "yeah, it is."

Andy nodded and sighed, "look, what is so special about these kids anyways? They seem to just be making everything worse for you."

Joe grunted as Frank groaned, "no, they did at first before I realized it. They're a fucking strong group of teenagers, I can tell you that. Brendon he-I've never seen a fucking witch that powerful. His bloodline is pure. And Patrick is a medium like no other. Have you ever heard of a willing soul bond between a human and spirit?"

When Joe and Andy both shook their heads in unison Frank went on, "see? It makes Pete's and Patrick's bond so much stronger, makes Patrick's abilities fucking amazing. And they've got a priest who's capable of doing exorcisms off the top of his head. Successful ones too."

"So that's why you kept them?"

Frank nodded, "that and the fact that demons are revolting, trying to take over Chicago. I said I'd get them an army, but they're the only thing strong enough to stop this. They're powerful in their own sense."

"Why do you need me?"

Frank looked at Joe and smiled sadly, "I needed to see who survives in the end so that I can start planning the best eternity for the ones that don't in hell."

Andy flinched and the psychic sitting next to him shifted, "I can only see one person's future at the moment, the rest are blocked because of a dumb protection spell."

Frank perked up, "who's is it?"

"A certain hunter...Tyler Joseph?"

Gerard gasped. He knew that name, he was friends with that teen before Tyler found out Gee was a vampire. He huffed, he really liked the guy and his boyfriend...

"Yeah, he coming for the body of Josh?"

Andy nodded and Joe continued, "he's coming and I think he knows it was a demon attack. You might want to lay low for awhile or suffer the consequences. I would hate for you and Gerard to die at the hands of a vengeful hunter."

"Or I could have the idiots get him on our side, his boyfriend already is..."

"Maybe."

"Are you sure you can't tap into anyone else's future?"

Joe squeezed his eyes shut in concentration before sighing heavily, "positive."

"And are you sure you guys don't want to be on our side and help us? We could use the extra hands."

Andy smiled, "I believe a psychic would only try and mess with things going on and a sophisticated witch as myself would only get in the way. Plus if things go bad, we don't want to be caught in the crossfire."

Frank nodded solemnly, "understandable."

"We may be able to help you though...there's a couple hunters willing to join, I have their numbers and know full well they won't attack."

"Hmm, thank you."

Gerard shifted and watched as Frank stood up and brushed off his jeans, "is that all the news you have for me?"

Joe shook his head, "I almost forgot. That medium of yours? Patrick? He's got a tough heart and soul but even the bond has him wore out. It won't be long until the demons get to him, I could tell you an exact date but not even I know that. All I know is that his future was stopped even before the protection spell."

Frank furrowed his brows and shook his head, "thank you..."

Gerard flinched in sympathy from his spot. He liked the little guy! He jumped down when he saw Andy and Joe walk off with a gloomy goodbye and Frank sat down on a bench heavily. Gerard bit his lip and hesitantly approached the younger man.

"Frank...?"

"I'm gonna get a fucking kid killed Gee, and I can't do anything about it..."

Gerard sat down next to the younger and leant his head on the shorter's tattooed arm. He hummed a desolate tune and watched the features in Frank's face shift into one of emotional pain.

"Should we get the hunter then?"

"I suppose so..."

Gerard sniffed, "cheer up Frankie, I'll make sure the kid doesn't kick the bucket early, if that'll help."

Frank raised a brow, "you? Wow, okay...that's not the craziest thing I've heard out of your mouth today."

"I'm not kidding! I'll look after him! Gerard protection squad at your service."

Frank chuckled before dying off into a rugged sigh, "thanks Gerard."

"No problem."

 

0000000000000000000000000000

 

Brendon waited anxiously for Ryan to come out of his room and meet him in the rug in the middle of his living room. Him and Patrick may or may not have rearranged all of Ryan and Spencer's furniture in their house so that they could draw a pentagram in the middle of their floor, now hidden by the rug that Pete had to go out and buy. (steal it, because he can't buy shit, he's a god damn ghost but Patrick pretends that he bought it to help save his conscience.)  
Thy did a combination of plan A and plan B. They snuck in but they're not gonna perform the ritual without the house owner's knowledge of them there. Which was kind of weird because Pete and Dallon are just casually chilling in the car whilst Patrick and Brendon are sitting in the middle of the living room floor trying to hide the pentagram that wasn't so greatly covered by the rug and wait for Ryan and Spencer to wake up.  
It was fucking awkward and at one point Patrick got out a deck of cards and now they're playing slap jack. Brendon thinks it's been two hours since they got here and wow, how long could someone sleep. He would ask Patrick but the guy sleeps until three in the afternoon on his good days. Brendon chuckled to himself and casually switched their card game over to b.s.

"Uh, three aces."

"Four jacks."

"That's fucking bull shit."

"You suck ass, give me the deck."

Brendon laughed and handed Patrick the deck, laughing as the younger grumbled. The only games Patrick was good at were spoons and slap jack. Curse the older's cat-like reflexes.

A thump sounded from the hall behind Brendon and he hummed as a gruff and gravely voice called out, "what the fuck."

Brendon smiled, "hi there Ryan."

Another tired voice, slightly deeper, said, "it's too early for this shit."

Brendon pushed his cards out to Patrick who began to frantically clean them up, "well, we snuck in your house around two hours ago I think, and we've been waiting for you ever since to wake up."

"Why?"

"Uh, to talk duh."

"I hate you sometimes Urie."

Brendon's heart fluttered, "love you too Ross!"

Patrick stood up and sighed, walking over to the two pajama clad adults, "uh, how do I put this? I guess that we have something really important to tell you guys and you might want to hurt us after we tell you everything so like, don't."

Brendon's heart stopped in a bad way and he looked over at Patrick, pouting, "everything?"

Patrick huffed, "yes, everything."

"We can't just leave a little bit out?"

Patrick raised a brow condescendingly, "no, Brendon."

"How about the part where we drew a pentagram on the ground."

Spencer hissed, "you did what?!"

Brendon groaned in unison with Patrick while Ryan angrily walked over to them, "explain."

Brendon flinched, "uh, well..."

"Now, Brendon!"

Brendon flinched and rushed out, "demons are attacking Chicago and we're trying to stop them! And Patrick can see ghosts! And I'm a witch!"

Ryan raised a brow, "okay...get out of my house."

Spencer growled, a weirdly animalistic growl that sounded slightly like an irritated wolf, and Brendon squeaked.

"Wait! No. Ryro we need your heeeelp."

Patrick frowned and squinted his eyes at Spencer. To Brendon it looked like he was trying to find something on the taller man. Brendon huffed and folded his arms, turning back to Ryan in what everyone has dubbed as 'Beebo Tantrum Mode™.'

"Brendon no, you guys are fucking crazy."

Brendon stuck out his bottom lip and forced himself to make his eyes water, "please Ryan?"

A sigh, he was relenting, "no Bden."

"But Ryan...I need you..."

"Brendon-"

"Please...?"

Ryan glared, "Fine, what the fuck is going on?"

Brendon smiled wide and bright and watched as a longing look filled Ryan's eyes, "we need to talk to a demon that used to visit here frequently before someone blessed your house."

Patrick, who was still analyzing Spencer, spoke up, "the demon should be able to help us and explain what went wrong with Aaron and why the others are suddenly trying to take over Chicago."

Ryan raised a brow, "there's too many questions but first of all, that's why you drew a pentagram on my floor?"

Brendon nodded happily and Patrick grunted. Brendon, intrigued by his friend's behavior, gently prodded Patrick in the side with his elbow and whispered, "Treestump, man, you're being creepy just chill."

Patrick blushed and turned away. Brendon pulled back the rug to reveal the pentagram and slowly sat down Indian style outside of it. Patrick joined him on his left and Ryan on his right. Spencer was standing back and watching.

Brendon sighed and slipped out the small and black spell book, looking into Ryan's bored eyes.

"Okay, so this is pretty fucked up and its all black magic so I'm gonna be cursed by the Earth I guess. Rest in pieces me, right?"

Ryan gave Brendon a pointed look while Patrick gave him a stern glance that screamed "mom mode." Brendon smiled to himself and started the chant, gradually getting louder.  
His vision turned silver, color gone from his peripherals. He shivered at the sudden feeling of another presence and could tell that Patrick was the first to see the demon. Brendon finished off the chant with a loud cry, he opened his eyes to find a very normal looking demon.

"Holy fuck it worked."

Brendon heard a snort to his left and gave Patrick a glare.

The demon huffed, showing his black eyes, "what in the actual fuck do you four dipshits want?"

Ryan snorted and Brendon rolled his eyes, "quit being so stuck up, we need your help."

Spencer walked closer and sat down on the outside of the circle, pressed against Ryan.

"No, fuck you guys-wait, holy shit! Spencer?!"

Brendon and Patrick shared an exasperated look and turned to Spencer with equal glares, Ryan just looked bored.

Spencer hummed and shook his head, "hi Jon."

It was Ryan's turn to speak, "what the fuck is going on?"

The demon, Jon, smirked and crossed his arms, "Spencer here cursed me to permanent damnation with the help of Andy after I accidentally killed the rest of his werewolf family."

Ryan said, "Andy?" At the same time Brendon asked, "werewolf?!"

Spencer looked tired and turned his body towards Brendon and Patrick, "yeah, I'm a werewolf and Ryan knows so blame him not me."

Patrick chuckled, "fucking yes! I knew I felt a presence from you!"

Brendon swallowed and turned back to the demon, "uh, we'll talk about this later I guess...? Right now we just need to focus on the matter at hand."

Jon raised a bushy eyebrow in their direction, "and that is...?"

Patrick stood up and stalked over to Jon, interrogation mode on full.

"Do you know someone named Aaron?"

Jon laughed loudly, boisterous and full, "that kid? He's the one causing this trouble, eh? Fucking dick."

"Yeah he is, didn't you contact him at some point?"

"Yeah, I knew Aaron. Kid was fucking weird, always trying to figure out more shit he shouldn't be looking into. Part of the reason why he got where he is now."

Patrick bit his lip and Brendon silently watched his shorter friend stalk the room. The fedora clad teen whispered softly, "what happened to him?"

Jon sighed, "it was tragic really, at first he only got into voodoo, tried to get back at all his bullies. He thought of himself as a peace maker when he was only really doing more harm to others."

"When that didn't work very well he went to the internet and tried to research shit. He hurt himself more than he hurt others...anyways, he found this house and back then this place was abandoned. Multiple death issues caused by cold hearted murders took place here and this house was practically crawling with demons."

Brendon shivered at the thought and felt a warm and calloused hand rub the back of his neck, a calming gesture. A flush spread across his cheeks and he glanced over at Ryan who had a peaceful look on his face.

"Aaron blessed himself and the house with a bit of burning sage. It took weeks but the demons were finally gone, finding solace in the next haunted house. Aaron summoned me and confined me to this house, but Spencer was the one who sent me to damnation here."

Jon gave Spencer a glare and the werewolf just rolled his eyes.

"When I was summoned he asked for revenge and I explained to him that he'd have to summon a demon of chaos for that to happen. The kid instead sold everything he had to us, his soul, his heart, his humanity. All for strength and power to right the people who did him wrong.

"He terrified me, made me sick. Humans are the monsters at hand, not us, not anymore. And Aaron only had one moral, not to kill. It was funny for me, a demon with a stout kid who thought of himself as a god."

"Aaron's spirit is doing this, recruiting demons and killing others, not because he wants to but because he has to."

Brendon gulped and watched as Patrick stood frozen, watching Jon's every movements.

"Aaron didn't mean to kill all those kids, he didn't even kill Pete. He didn't do it because he was evil or because he could, he did it because he had to."

"He got involved with the wrong things and dug too deep, he was punished for being nosey. He's being controlled, doing things against his will out of fear and damnation."

"Holy shit."

Jon nodded and Brendon gaped, "the one that possessed you Patrick? That was Aaron. Those demons? They were all Aaron. He can be multiple things at once because he has to. And if you think he was bad, just imagine the thing controlling the kid."

Patrick swallowed heavily and with a swipe of his hand, Jon was gone and so was the pentagram on the ground. Brendon watched with fascination as Patrick's hands glowed an electric blue and ancient writing and symbols appeared on them.

"What the fuck Patrick?!"

Patrick shook his head and Spencer spoke up, "the soul bond has made him reach places and things that no medium has ever done. Jon gave him a gift."

Patrick looked pale as he stared down at his newly tattooed and glowing hands. The light was starting to fade, "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Brendon thought so too and only cringed when Patrick's eyes glowed blue as well and rolled into the back of his head as he fainted, falling back on the couch.

Ryan grunted and Brendon turned towards his crush, smiling warily, "oh god, Ry...we are so fucked."


	8. Romeo and Juliet v.2-Ghost and Hunter Style

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh I don't rly like this chapter but oh well. (Also happy late birthday to Dallon...so many birthdays lately geez.)

Tyler Joseph's mind was a cacophony of chaos, but there were two things you could see from just looking at his stormy eyes. One, he was grieving for a lost loved one. Two, despite his innocent looking features, this kid had seen some horrible shit.  
He had watched a carcass become split open while still alive and he had seen up close the effects of a poltergeist. But nothing in the entire world could ever prepare him for the death of his best friend, his boyfriend. They were going to announce it the next Sunday when Josh came back because it was going to be his birthday, a great day for their families to be together. Sometimes though, the world was cruel and Tyler was even more cruel.  
He had watched Josh exit his car and start walking to the terminal, waving at him with a puppy dog smile as he left. Tyler remembered feeling uneasy and worried but shook it off. He was a hunter, they were known to trust their gut instinct and Tyler didn't. He didn't save Josh. Josh was gone.  
Tyler had screamed and cried and grieved but he realized that that wasn't going to get him anywhere and held in his emotions, blocking them off to the rest of the world. Just like he did before he met Josh. He closed them up behind a dark and shadowed wall, blocking them from anyone, and set himself on a neutral expression. He had a job to do and now he knows what killed Josh.  
Obviously demons. Thanks to the news station though, he knew where Josh was staying. At a witch's house. It wasn't that hard to hide how there was sage in the corners and large, dusty books on the old table that discretely hides a giant pentagram. No, Tyler was a hunter and he was trained to look for these things.  
It took him a total of twenty minutes to book a flight while at the airport and thirty more to board the flight before it left. He ignored the screaming children and the angry parents trying to calm them down, the screaming in his mind was too loud. He looked to his left where Josh usually would be and stopped himself from smiling. He wasn't there and he wasn't coming back. Tyler refused to cry.  
When he landed and Tyler got his things, he started running for a taxi, trying to be the first one there to leave. Thankfully, he only had to wait a short amount of time before getting a ride. He gave the address and watched as the driver's face fell a little before perking back up. Tyler could see why, it'd take them at least two hours to get to the witch's house. Tyler spent the time writing lyrics and planning. Mostly sleeping though.  
When they arrived, the cabbie had to shake him awake and Tyler had a small flashback to when he had fallen asleep next to Josh in their treehouse. He scowled and pulled away, getting out to get his stuff. He slung his bag over his shoulder and grunted under the weight. It was full of multiple weapons that were different in many ways and each had a specific use. Like the stakes he took just in case because of talk from local hunters saying that a clan of vampires had moved in. Or better yet, just one vampire. The king.  
Tyler's eyes flashed for a second with the thought of the king. He had a vague memory of knowing him before...before whatever it is that happened to Tyler's family. He didn't remember and he didn't know Josh early enough in his life to seek him out. Tyler remembered feeling grief and going to his friend and then nothing. His mind always drew a blank but he does remember that his friend was the king. It was fucked up in many ways and ever since the vampire took his memory and Tyler became an orphan housed to the family of hunters, he grew stronger. He grew better.  
He was happier with Josh and happy being hunters with his boyfriend. Or more like was. He was, until everything that happened. Tyler was angry and sad and so full of anguish that sometimes he couldn't think straight but he knew what he had to do. He had to track down the witch because from the looks of it, they weren't here.  
Tyler grunted and trudged up to the house, jiggling the handle and skillfully picking the lock. He silently shuffled inside, closing the door and locking it behind him. He scrunched up his nose at the smell of recently burned sage, the witch had just left. Tyler walked around and saw a boarded up window and a carefully hidden and faded blood stain. He forced back vomit and walked to the kitchen, seeing two placemats at the table. So there are two witches then? Most likely, it would make much more sense now.  
Tyler huffed and began taking sample of the room, pulling out a meter and checking for sulfur. He smelt it somewhere around here...A loud beep cut him off and he jumped.

"Fuck."

Tyler groaned and got out his ghost finder, angrily shutting it off. Ghosts weren't on his agenda right now, demons were. He bit his lip, if ghosts were involved then a medium was most likely working with the witches as well. This wasn't good if the witches and medium were on the demons' side.  
Tyler grunted and looked down at the ghost finder, eyes widening a bit at the radar. Two ghosts were circling him. Two was usually a bit rare, usually they travel alone and never together unless they were related. From the different color dots on the radar, Tyler could tell that the two ghosts barely knew each other.  
He shrugged and moved on, not in the slightest bit scared. As he rounded the corner from the kitchen to the living room he noticed a total of three things. One, the quiet hum of a tv in the background, two, an open spell book written in Latin and notes off to the side connecting dots between a kid named Aaron. And three, a pair of legs strung off the side of the couch. Shouldering his bag, Tyler walked over to the couch and eyed the teen laying across it.   
The kid looked at least twenty while Tyler himself was only seventeen. Tyler moved closer to inspect the boy with brown hair and found a teen no older than eighteen flopped out across the older's chest. This one had box framed glasses and a head of dark hair that was unruly fluffy. Tyler thought it looked good on the older teen. Tyler hummed and jumped when a sigh came from the floor. He looked over and noticed a very small teen with box framed glasses and a fedora sitting atop a head of strawberry blond hair. Tyler raised his brows at the teen and turned to inspect the other rooms for more important information when a loud and low growl sounded behind him.  
Tyler stopped and turned, hand reaching into his bag to pull out the gun containing one silver bullet. A man with piercing blue eyes stood in a threatening crouch a little ways from him, protectively hovering near the couch. The man had stubble and his upper lip pulled back into a snarl, showing pearly white canines.

"Of coarse, werewolves are always on the agenda aren't they?"

The werewolf growled louder in response and with a flick of his wrist, pulled out his claws. Tyler glared when the hybrid's eyes turned red and menacing. The teen pulled out the gun and cocked it, pointing it straight at the wolf. The werewolf seemed to almost laugh, thinking it was just an ordinary bullet that the gun held, Tyler smiled and turned his gaze towards the wolf's blazing eyes.

"Silver bullet bud, say goodbye to your friend's hm?"

The werewolf's face fell and he growled louder, taking a swift step forward and jostling his friends on the couch and floor.

"Spencer? What the fuck man-oh.."

The one with glasses on the couch stopped talking and rubbed his tired eyes. He slowly slid off his friend who he was lying atop of and helped pull up the strawberry blond from the ground.

"Ryan, calm Spence down, me and Patrick have got this handled...hopefully."

The one named Ryan gave the younger a skeptical look before tugging gently on the werewolf and leading him out of the living room and into the kitchen to calm down.

The fedora teen, Patrick, stepped forward and squinted, "wait...Brendon, why exactly is there a hunter in your house?"

Tyler watched as Brendon did a double take and glanced between him and Patrick, "hunter? Like kill me and you and our supernatural friends hunter?"

Patrick nodded and turned towards an empty space, speaking loud and clear, "isn't he the hunter we needed?"

"Ugh, no Pete go get Josh, we'll need him to settle this guy." 

Tyler's heart dropped at Josh's name and he trained the gun on the kid. He was talking to a blank space, he must be the medium.

Brendon jumped in front of his friend and yelped, "hey! Chill out dude, we haven't done anything wrong! We can contact your friend okay? He's here right now and he says he wants to help us so calm down."

Tyler scowled and holstered his gun, glad he didn't have to waste the single silver bullet, "Josh is here?"

Patrick stepped out from behind his friend and nodded, "yes, he would like to see you..."

Tyler nodded, relief flooding his veins, "okay but then you guys have to explain yourselves. Demon attacks are everywhere and they're gonna get us all in trouble."

Patrick nodded and Brendon walked off, bringing back a thick spell book.

"Patrick, hold this while I chant."

So the weirdly hyperactive one was the witch, huh? Makes sense. Tyler calmed his nerves and rubbed his hands together, at first not really believing the teens. They seemed legit though but really? Josh wouldn't just go out and get killed, this isn't adding up. There's holes in their story that Tyler couldn't quite fill with his own knowledge. Listening to the older teens seemed like the best option, especially if they were involved supernaturally with this situation. But Tyler was still skeptical at the whole 'knowing Josh's ghost' bit. But...  
The name Brendon did in fact ring a bell. Josh mentioned going to some kid named Brendon's house...okay. Tyler was still confused but if he could talk to Josh again. That's all he really wanted out of this. That and revenge.

"Close your eyes, Tyler."

Tyler reluctantly shut his lids and vaguely wondered how they knew his name. A warm feeling washed over him and a cold glow seemed to bask his skin. When he opened his eyes a figure was standing next to Patrick that wasn't there before.

"Tyler, this is Pete. He's a ghost."

Tyler glared but nodded, feeling a sudden need for his ghost trapper.

"He's the reason why we're helping to figure this shit out and stop the entire city of Chicago from going into ruins."

Tyler felt less on edge but still uneasy with that new information.

"Where's Josh?"

Brendon shook his head and sighed, "he's in the other room."

 

Tyler frankly didn't give two shits about anything from then on. He practically raced into the other room, needing to see his boyfriend. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw Josh's pink head of hair and his signature alien jacket. He almost cried. But he didn't.

"Hi Ty."

Tyler smiled wide, "Hi Jishwa."

Josh got off the counter and enveloped him in a hug that lasted days. When they broke apart Tyler had to wipe tears he didn't know he had shed.

"I need to say some things."

Tyler could only nod.

"I'm helping these guys, it only seems right. And I need you to join us, you're like literally our only way of doing anything. We need to stop this disaster before it gets bad."

Tyler bit his lip, "you know I work solo."

"And you know that my decision is set already."

"I know."

"I'm asking you to choose. But I believe you've already made up your mind."

Tyler nodded, "I could never leave you."

Josh smiled wide and wrapped his arms around Tyler, enveloping him in safe and strong arms. A cough and then a loud chuckle sounded behind them and Tyler pulled apart.

Brendon was standing, beaming with his arms wide, "so now that we have all that we need, let's go fuck up some demons!"

Josh raised a brow, "now?"

Patrick nodded and Spencer hummed from the next room, dragging Ryan in with him, "Our priest, Dallon, is out getting candles and shit to make holy water. When he gets back we're off."

Pete crossed his arms, "you guys do realize that this is only the beginning right? It only gets worse from here."

Tyler nodded, "I'm used to it and I don't think that anyone wants to back out of this from what I've seen."

Pete shook his head and looked down, "I can't guarantee any of you will even be alive by the time we're done."

Patrick smiled solemnly and put his hand on the ghost's shoulder, "we know. But we're doing this for a reason Pete, we're standing our ground."

"We have a long ways ahead of us before we even finish this fight. I mean, the fight hasn't even begun."

Brendon pulled out his phone, "I'll tell Dal to hurry then."

Pete nodded and led Patrick out of the kitchen, Spencer and Ryan following Brendon. Tyler smirked and turned to Josh.

"I'm glad that I can still see you."

"I know."

Tyler's heart soared, "and I'm happy that I'm a hunter otherwise we would most likely both be dead."

"I know."

"And I want to say thank you."

Josh raised a brow and Tyler continued, "you've made my life worth living and even though you aren't living now you joined these guys so that you could see me again. Not just to help."

"You know me too well."

"I know everyone too well. It's an instinct to test before trust."

"Maybe that's why I fell in love with you."

Tyler laughed and buried his head in Josh's shoulder, listening to the other talk, "you don't have to continue with the tough guy persona. Where's TyJo?"

Tyler laughed, "shuddup, you're my best fren so you're the only one who gets to see the fun side of me."

"I believe you once told the poltergeist living in your house that masks weren't fun."

Tyler's breath hitched and he felt Josh's chest vibrate as he spoke, "why don't you ever take your own advice?"

"If I did I would be nothing but a hypocrite. Sadly enough, I can't do it."

 

Footsteps came barging into the room and Brendon was breathing heavily, "Dallon's almost here but I'm pretty sure my next door neighbor is being attacked by multiple demons."

A yell from the other room that was vaguely translated to Patrick's voice, "or its Aaron!"

Tyler huffed, "let me get my weapons, we'll be ready in a sec."

Josh hummed and rubbed his thumb over Tyler's wrist, whispering soothingly, "be safe."

Tyler blinked and he disappeared along with the other ghost that was with Patrick.

Tyler huffed and walked ahead to get his bag, haphazardly slinging it over his shoulder. They had a job to do.


	9. Your hands are basically just built in flashlights by now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's a little important thingy...I'm Jan in my high school's production of Grease and performances are on Friday the 19th through Monday the 22nd. I may have an update on Tuesday the 23rd depending on my schedule but next week is also finals. Expect me to not update until the week after but hey, if I do on Tuesday then it's your lucky day! (Also sorry I was gonna be done with this chap on like Sat. but then I had to go to prom soooooo)

Patrick wiped blood from his cheek, grimacing and glancing at Pete who looked bored. A blue light flickered in his peripherals and Patrick groaned.

"Oh come on! I don't know what you want!"

Tyler looked over from where he was cleaning and raised a brow before coming over to him. Josh took his boyfriend's place and Brendon sighed as he helped his traumatic neighbor get up from the floor, supernatural beings officially gone.

"Maybe it's trying to help you?"

Patrick huffed, "I honestly don't know why the fuck Jon gave me this."

Pete glanced up and sighed deeply, "look trick, it's obviously something that we're gonna need and we all have to figure out how the fuck to work it. Brendon has already been talking to his mom and looking through spell books, we'll figure this out."

Tyler shook his head, "no, this isn't something we can all resolve together."

Patrick swallowed, "what'd ya mean?"

"Usually when some sort of supernatural creature gives you a gift it's up to you to figure out why and how to use it. Needless to say, you're in this alone."

Patrick made a sad sort of sound and looked down at his shoes. Pete was immediately at his side.

"I wouldn't worry too much though," Tyler continued, "it doesn't take too long to figure it out. Just follow the gift and gut instinct. That's how it works."

Patrick looked back up and Pete cleared his throat, his ghostly form flickering in the light.

"You say this like you know something about it personally."

Tyler nodded, "I'm a hunter, I'm supposed to know things to an extreme extent...also I knew someone with a gift. Her's was a bright yellow eye on the back of her hand. She was a different case, born with it. You're lucky Patrick, usually people who are given the gift are more than worthy of it, it's rare to not be born with one and to have it granted to you."

"I don't feel lucky."

Tyler smiled before turning away, "you will."

Patrick looked down at his glowing hands and sighed, waiting for the hue to stop flickering.

"Y'know, you look kinda cute when you're frustrated."

Patrick looked up at Pete and flushed a bright red, seeing how the ancient markings on his hands glowed brighter.

"So it responds to different stimuli...that's good to know."

Patrick huffed, "stop it Pete, I have to figure this out on my own, remember?"

Pete rolled his eyes, "I was just taking observations!"

"Sure."

Patrick stared at his hands and waited for the glow to go away. When it didn't he huffed, frustrated from everything. A sob was heard in the distance as well as the sound of Brendon trying to calm down his neighbor, Mrs. Vallier. 

"Really it was nothing, just raccoons!"

"Nothing?! Those were demons!"

So he wasn't having any luck convincing her then. Patrick turned away and started to leave the room, heading back down the old and decorated hallways. The stairs creaked as he trotted down them and a chill ran down his spine. It was still kind of spooky to know how just minutes ago demons were ransacking this house.  
He padded across the wood floor and opened the large front door, revealing Dallon and Ryan casually talking next to Brendon's jeep. Patrick smiled and felt a surge of warmth knowing that he was going to win the bet between him and Pete.  
Patrick started to walk over towards the two older boys and waved when they saw him.

"So what's going on inside?"

Patrick glanced back at the house then towards Dallon, "it almost looks like Brendon's trying to cover up a murder. He's trying to blame it on raccoons."

Ryan laughed and Dallon shook his head fondly, "yeah, he'll do that."

Patrick felt his hands surge with warmth and he looked down in annoyance at the markings. They weren't glowing as bright as before but we're still a dull light.

"Still haven't figured those things out I assume?"

Patrick scoffed, "no, and what sucks even more is that it won't work if I don't figure this whole thing out on my own."

Ryan raised a brow, "have you ever tried to just sit in silence and try to control it? Or maybe it's like a warning."

Patrick bit his lip, "I don't know...when I was upstairs it was glowing really bright and then it stopped when I started to come out here, but now it's a dull light. I don't fucking know what it wants!"

Ryan clucked his tongue, "calm down, freaking out is gonna get you no where."

Dallon scratched his head and hummed, "maybe it glowed brighter upstairs because you were in danger? Like it responds to different things maybe?"

Patrick bit his lip, "if so then why is it glowing right now? There doesn't seem to be any danger?"

Ryan gently took Patrick's hands and pulled them over to him, "well, maybe it's not that big of a threat? It was glowing really bright with the demons..."

Patrick huffed and stepped forward, yanking back his hands, "I have to figure this out on my own guys, but thanks for trying anyways."

Ryan smiled and Patrick looked down at the ground just in time to see his hands flash brighter and a snake slither out from under the car. He may or may not have screamed.

"So...danger."

Patrick was still heavily breathing from his snake scare when Ryan smugly spoke up, "oh shut up, hippy."

A chill ran down his spine and he quickly checked his hands for a light, when nothing appeared he turned around to see Pete.

"They also respond to stimuli, watch."

Patrick gave Pete a "I swear to fucking god" look and Pete laughed. The ghost gently leaned on him and moved closer to his ear.

"Did it hurt?"

At that moment Patrick was about 100% done with Pete's shit.

"What the actual fuck Pete? Why would I be in pain?"

Pete smiled and Patrick watched as something vaguely crossed his eyes, "ya know, when you fell from heaven?"

Patrick's heart stopped and he never before wanted to simultaneously punch someone and kiss them. A red heat came crawling up his chest and to his cheeks, which made Pete bark out laughing. The markings on his hands glowed brighter than ever before.

Dallon smiled slyly, "so that's two things we know about your gift. I'm guessing it's up to Patrick now to figure this all out."

Patrick nodded and jumped when Brendon's yell rang out through the front yard, "Guys! I figured out why the dumb asshole demons wanted to attack a nice old lady like Mrs. Vallier!"

He came sprinting towards them with Tyler and Josh strolling behind. When Brendon finally reached the group he stopped to catch his breath, heaving quietly. 

"That lady she, oh fuck I shouldn't have done that I'm not athletic."

Ryan gave him a look that screamed, "you fucking serious?" And Patrick almost laughed. When Brendon finally stopped breathing heavily he stood up straight from where he was crouched and took a deep breath, continuing what he was saying.

"Mrs. Vallier was the nurse at the high school that Aaron used to go to. Apparently he's like really fucking pissed because whenever he came in to get his injuries checked out she never told anyone he was being bullied and ridiculed."

Pete gasped, "I knew she looked familiar! Aw man she was so nice to me too. Once when I got slide tackled and busted up my knee playing soccer, she gave me a fucking lollipop like the best nurse ever."

Brendon scoffed, "one time when I had a concussion the nurse thought I was faking it and sent me back to class, I threw up on Spencer and passed out. It was funny."

Spencer scoffed from where he was inside the car, "no, it was not funny."

Patrick laughed at the memory, "yeah I went to go see him in the nurse's office and she just looked so mad. She still fucking believed he was faking it even after that whole ordeal."

Spencer got out of the car and glared at both of them, "anyways, what does this whole new thing bring to the table for us?"

Brendon sighed, "well, I asked her some things and she said that the only person Aaron would have ever confided with was the biology teacher who apparently was fired for trying to force satanism on one of his students."

Dallon spoke up, "So our best guess is that that guy knows what the fuck Aaron is up to?"

Brendon nodded, "exactly, we just have to make sure he's not on Aaron's side."

Tyler and Josh appeared next to Pete and Tyler cleared his throat, "this means that it's likely one of us could die. Supposedly the guy is holed up in the abandoned school, so that's where we're going."

Patrick grabbed Pete's hand and squeezed for comfort, smiling when his friend squeezed back.

It was Spencer who spoke next, "let's go then."

Brendon snorted, "yeah right, we're getting supplies first cuz not everyone has cool and aggressive powers, wolfy."

Pete grinned, "sleepover!"

Ryan rolled his eyes and jumped in the car. Patrick didn't miss the longing look he shared with Dallon. He smiled on the inside and looked up at Pete. The nerds were already crushing and Patrick hadn't even done anything yet. Score one for Patrick, zero for Pete.

 

0000000000000000000000000000

Patrick was sitting on Brendon's roof, gazing up at the night sky. The full moon lit up the darkness around him and surrounded Patrick in a blanket of comfort, knowing he wasn't alone. The stars twinkled with every inhale and exhale he would take. Patrick felt like he was immortal underneath the night.  
He glanced down at his hands and turned them over, studying them. The markings were a light brown and looked like an old school henna tattoo. When they lit up though it was an electric blue, glowing bright and strong. Patrick smiled down at his hands in memory of when Pete first saw his glowing hands.  
He had been so entertained by them, he loved the color. It made Patrick's heart surge with warmth and his hands glowed dully. He turned them over again and laid down on his back, moving them back and forth. It looked like he was reaching up at the sky and trying to paint on more stars.  
Patrick gasped suddenly when a little blue light shot out from his fingertips. He sat up and looked down at his hands. 

"Woah...what the hecky."

He opened his palm and made another swish motion, watching as the light trailed off. He did it faster and this time it shot out from his hand and landed on the roof, causing it to glow blue. Patrick giggled.  
He made a stop motion with his hand and pressed his palm forward, like he was timidly high-fiving someone. A large blue symbol appeared and was hovering around his hand. Patrick jumped and saw that it was the same symbol as the biggest one on the back of his hand. He pressed his palm forward and heard a click.  
A chill went down his spine and Patrick turned his arm, watching as the symbol turned as well. He felt like he was on autopilot, not knowing exactly what he was doing; his limbs seemed to move on their own. He pulled his hand back and watched as the symbol opened up like a door. Inside the door was a dark room with quiet whispers. He peered through the door and saw nothing, knowing that he'd have to go inside. Patrick hesitantly stepped through and jumped as the symbol closed behind him.  
His hand glowed bright like a flashlight and he thrust his palms out in front of his body, letting the light lead him. He turned left and the blue glow started to dim so he turned right and it glowed brighter like a weird game of hot and cold.  
Heavy breathing grew closer to him and Patrick almost started panicking when his hands started to flash in a warning. He turned around and willed the blue light out of his fingers. A screech and a thud sounded. Patrick reluctantly opened his eyes and saw a twitching demon on the ground, covered in electric blue light.

Pete's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and Patrick's heart sped up. He blinked and watched his hands glow brighter and brighter, light swarming his vision. The next thing he knew was that he was on the roof and his hands had a faint glow around them like an old t.v that just got powered off, leaving behind a green hue. 

"Patrick! There you are! Come on inside, Brendon's Mom just finished making dinner."

Patrick nodded, "uh, y-yeah be there in a sec..."

Pete raised a brow before shrugging, ducking out of the window and leaving the room. Patrick looked back down at his hands and then up at the sky. He made a sharp swish motion again and watched the blue light trail off and hit the ground below him.  
His heart was still beating fast when he said, "what the actual fuck just happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy if ya wanna leave some saucy suggestions go to my Tumblr: https://fitznoodle.tumblr.com
> 
> Until next time my sweet bois, I'm out.


	10. Breaking bones and tearing souls from their bodies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't yell at me.

In Pete's opinion, the school still looked the same. Despite all the grunge and graffiti, molding walls and crumbling stone, it looked just how Pete had left it. He hummed to himself, watching Patrick sway past him, going up near Brendon to enter the school first. Pete grimaced when he spotted a bloodstain directly next to Patrick's foot. He wanted to gag from the memories.  
Speaking of Patrick, something weird was going on with the little guy. Pete had a sneaking suspicion that he figured out what the symbols on his hands meant and how to use them. It's just, he was acting so defensive last night and now he won't even let Pete touch him. Pete's heart shattered a bit at the thought of never again having any type of physical contact with Patrick.   
And maybe, just maybe, Pete finally realized that Patrick meant the fucking world to him. Within the span of barely even a week, they had become best friends. Pete really couldn't recall the last time he had a friend, let alone an acquaintance that was alive and breathing. Hell, Pete doesn't even remember most of his life but he's pretty damn sure he didn't have any friends back then either.  
One more thing happened with Pete though, he now felt a twinge of guilt towards Patrick. If he just hadn't agreed to the deal with Frank then the idiots wouldn't even be here anyways...but he bargained for his life and Pete would give anything to fucking be seen by someone again. Or to breathe, to have a fucking heartbeat and a warm body. It was all so horrible and Pete wouldn't have taken the oh so tempting deal if he knew Patrick was going to be dragged into this.  
Especially now that the shorter teen has a fucking demon's markings on his hands. Tyler went around saying 'gift' but Pete's pretty sure that they both know what they really are. Pete's getting tired of all these lies but right now he's gotta focus on the one thing in front of him; Patrick and his hips and the old metal doors in front of him. But damn those hips and woah, since when has Pete ever felt nervous and jittery? He's pretty sure that if he had a single drop of blood in his body, it would be pumping vigorously and rushing towards his face. He didn't understand this feeling, didn't remember it from his days when he was living.

"Okay, let's go...hey Pete? You in there buddy?"

Pete snapped out of his trance and dumbly looked at Dallon, "huh."

Patrick snorted from the front and shook his head, "c'mon Peter Rabbit, let's get a move on."

Pete huffed indignantly and floated to the front, right next to Patrick, "nice talk, Lunchbox."

A huff and Pete was taking the lead, floating down the twisted halls. The walls were crumbling inward and looked extremely unstable. Pete watched as Patrick ran his hands over a desk in the main office, collecting dust. In that same moment Tyler had touched the wall and was immediately pulled back by Josh as it began to crumble and fall. Pete scoffed.

"Fucking construction workers were supposed to tear this place down, guess they never really finished their job did they...?"

A hum from Brendon, "maybe they were too afraid."

Ryan's voice sounded from the corner and Pete glanced over as the younger began talking, "yeah...almost as if something chased them out."

"Could've been a someone as well."

"Or both. I'm thinking both."

Pete tuned out their conversation and focused on how Patrick stuck his tongue out just a tiny bit between his teeth when he concentrated hard enough. Fucking adorable. He sighed and shook the thoughts from his head and stepped away, towards Brendon and Dallon. A squish came from his shoes and he looked down, spotting a large bloodstain. What was worse was that it was wet, fucking sopping and an actual puddle. He leaned down and ran his ghostly fingers through it, feeling how warm it was. Fresh. He stood up immediately and turned towards his friends.

"Guys, fucking shush," he frantically whispered, "we're not alone and whatever is out there is out for fucking blood. I just stepped in fresh fucking blood guys, couldn't have been spilled for more than five minutes ago."

Patrick paled and shuffled closer to Pete, absentmindedly rubbing the marks on his hands. Pete watched as Tyler grabbed Josh's hand and the ghost squeezed back for comfort. He turned towards Spencer and motioned for him to come with him.

When the werewolf was close enough he told him, "Spencer, what do you smell?"

Spencer rolled his eyes and looked about to protest when he wrinkled his nose in disgust, "blood, a whole lot of blood. Fresh too...and a man...from the scent he's most likely homeless. Ugh he smells disgusting."

The wolf sniffed again and Ryan folded his arms, "what else Spence?"

"I uh, I smell a fuckton of sulfur. We're literally surrounded." 

Just then a low growling started up from behind him and Patrick fucking screamed. Pete turned around so fast he swore he could've had whiplash. The flashlights all shut off at once and flickered back on after a moment, revealing a shadowed man hold Patrick against his will. Pete gasped and started forward, watching as the demon growled and flung Patrick. His friends attempted to help but couldn't go any closer.

"Pete!"

Pete saw Patrick being dragged off, kicking and screaming, clawing at the shadowed arms around his body. A hand clamped over the strawberry blond's mouth and Patrick started shaking his head violently, thrashing around harder. 

"Fuck."

Pete noticed that a faint blue glow was coming from the younger's hands and saw that Patrick's arms were restricted firmly, glowing hands being tucked out of sight. The demon started to drag him away and Pete growled. He started rushing at the demon who was frantically floating down the hall with a struggling Patrick.  
Pete practically slide tackled the thing and was surprised when he heard a pained 'oof' to his left and Patrick's fedora was off to the side. He didn't think that the tackle would work. He reached behind himself for the hat and threw it at Patrick, picking up the disoriented teen and slinging him over his shoulder.

"Pete! What the hell?!"

Pete quickly set his friend down and turned towards the demon. A loud hissing noise racked through Pete's brain but he ignored it, focusing solely on the task at hand. The demon flickered and dissipated, appearing closer and in the shadows.

"This is why we stay together."

Pete ignored Tyler and started forward, grinning wide. He attempted to grab the demon but was promptly thrown into the wall opposite, phasing through two different rooms. He groaned out of annoyance when he picked himself up, screw his ghostly form. One good thing was that he didn't feel pain though so that's good he guessed.  
Pete quickly phased through the walls he flew into and saw the demon holding Josh up by the throat and Ryan fending off two more demons with Spencer. Brendon was too busy helping his lover boy with Dallon to be able to see what was going on.  
The hand around Josh's neck was tight and you could practically see indents on the spirit's neck. Pete flinched but was glad they both couldn't feel any pain. The thing is though, Josh's was acting like he could feel it. His face was screwed up in pain and concentration and he was desperately clawing at the shadowed arms around his neck. Pete started forward and watched as the shadows from the demon extended out onto Josh, trying to suffocate him.  
Pete panicked as he saw Patrick get picked up and flung into another wall, being dragged into a room. He started to chase after but watched as Tyler desperately got out his holy water bombs, fastening them to his belt. Pete groaned and floated over, throwing one after the other into the demon's face.  
At first the demon refused to let go of Josh but after his skin burned for a while it left. Josh had fallen to the ground, legs completely giving out from under him.

"Fuck, what the fuck."

Tyler looked extremely worried and Pete glanced over at the others, watching as Dallon and Brendon concluded the exorcism. Pete heaved a sigh of relief and stood, looking at his friends.

"Demons can't really do anything to a human that's been blessed right?"

Tyler nodded, "depends on how long he's been blessed for."

Brendon spoke up, "I didn't set an exact time, but he was blessed just recently."

Tyler nodded, "as long as it's not longer than a month ago then he's good."

Pete ran into the room that Patrick was taken into, visibly deflating when he saw no sign of Patrick. He could've screamed in frustration, "guys!" He called, "the fucking thing took Patrick."

Brendon cursed loudly, "fuck, fuck no not trick, he should be fine though, right?"

Ryan nodded, "he's a strong kid, they won't be able to touch him if he's blessed, the demon's skin was practically burning right off while holding him down."

Tyler spoke up, "yeah, the demons won't but what about whoever still stays here?"

Pete bit his lip and Dallon stood, "he should be fine and mediums can always call for help from different and calm spirits if needed. He's strong Pete, don't forget that."

Pete nodded and sighed, looking back at josh who was still rubbing his neck as though he was in pain, "what the fuck happened though? Ghosts can't feel pain Josh, we're dead."

A snort sounded from behind them and Pete turned, crouching defensively. A dark shadow was cast over them and Pete furrowed his brows, listening to Spencer smell the air and relax.

"It's not a threat."

A scoff, "of coarse not. I would never harm any of you unless Frank told me to."

The vampire stepped out into the light and smiled, flashing his fangs, "my brother is waiting for me so we have to make this quick."

Tyler stiffened and glared daggers at the vamp, Gerard just ignored him and kept on talking, growing cold when he'd sneak a glance.

"In case you idiots didn't know, powerful demons have the cruel ability to turn any spirit into one of them. It's disgusting."

Gerard sauntered over to Brendon, casually leaning against the witch, "it makes the spirit vulnerable, that's why Josh felt pain. When a spirit is vulnerable to feeling you have one of two choices to pick from. One, turn them human...or two, kill them forever."

Pete swallowed, "okay, I've had enough. Where's Patrick?!"

Gerard narrowed his eyes, "on the roof slightly to the right. Nothing is up there, I'd hurry."

Pete started to turn and run but stopped when Gerard called out, "of coarse, if you go now you'll lose your only chance of finding your old teacher. He's down the hallway to your left. Second door on the right."

Dallon narrowed his eyes, "why are you here Gerard?"

The vampire sat down heavily on the ground, "to make sure your friend doesn't die, I made a promise to someone I care deeply about. Now go find your teacher, I'll get Patrick."

Pete sighed and nodded towards Gerard in thanks, turning heel and running towards the door, stopping when Tyler put a hand on his shoulder.

"Take weapons, we don't know how compliant he'll be."

"Are you hinting at torturing a living person, Tyler?"

The smaller man sighed and shrugged, "trust me, living and controlling demons doesn't make you human. He's probably unrecognizable by now, Pete, and there's no chance that he's alone."

Pete nodded and started to reach into Tyler's bag. A cold breath ghosted over his shoulder and he turned with the bat in his hand to see Spencer looking solemn.

"You've gotta know Pete, Gerard's the king of vampires. He's the most wanted among demons out there. He's going to literally get himself killed to save Patrick."

Pete's heart jumped in his throat and Spencer continued, "there's no way he could survive that battle alone."

"Why would he do that?"

Spencer looked down at his shoes, "because Gerard believes strongly in acts of love and he showed Frank one by agreeing to protect Patrick so Frank doesn't have to live with blood on his hands. Gerard is fine with blood on his own. If he fails, Frank hates him. If he succeeds, Frank loves him."

"Gerard will be dead though."

"Exactly. He'd die to sacrifice love for you and Patrick. There's no way in hell a demon could love a vampire, same goes for ghosts and humans. But he knows by the end of this that you'll be human and he'll be dead."

"Then I'll go help him."

Pete began to move away from the door, starting down the hallway. Spencer's strong arm held him back, "Gerard's going to hell either way, he'll finally be with Frank."

Pete furrowed his brows, "is there any law for half demons?"

Spencer startled, "no?"

Pete smiled, "then exactly my point, they can still be a thing. I'm not letting Gerard die because I failed to protect Patrick. Tell the others that I'll be there soon...and with 'trick."

Spencer grinned, "you're a good man, Wentz."

Pete nodded but Spencer went on, "and I can tell that you love him. But I know that these kinds of situations can have anyone kick the bucket at any moment, so tell him before it's too late, okay?"

"I-I don't love Patrick."

He doesn't...does he? No, Pete would know if he did or not, plus they were just friends...right?

Spencer hummed and smiled and Pete started running down the hall. He ran towards the staircase, taking the steps two at a time. He ran past dark entrances and only stopped when there was a single bulb flickering above the last door. Next to the door was a small sign saying "roof, NO STUDENTS ALLOWED."

Pete smiled. He used to eat lunch on the roof alone when he was still alive. Good memories. He pulled open the door to the sight of Gerard being repeatedly slammed against a wall opposite of him. Pete growled and started forwards.  
His bat collided with the side of the demon's head and sent the shadow flying backwards. Pete turned to Gerard and saw the vampire wipe blood from his mouth, pushing his red shirt back off his forehead.

"You okay?"

"I'm immortal."

Pete rolled his eyes, "okay yeah, you okay?"

Gerard nodded, "fuck, Mikey is over there if ya wanna help him out, I'll keep looking for Patrick."

Gerard started to stumble away, pulling a stray stake out of his arm. Pete shook his head and grabbed the vampire, pulling him back.

"No, you're injured. We'll handle it."

"I'll fucking heal Peter, let go of me."

Pete refused and Gerard's eyes flashed red, fangs coming out.

The effect was immediate and Pete snatched his hand back, moving to go over near a tall man fighting the demons. He guessed it was Mikey. It wasn't until he was already fighting did he realize that Gerard hypnotized him to come over here. Pete cursed the vampire and continued to fight.  
Slowly, the numbers trickled down and Pete watched as only three demons were left, then two. Pete charged towards the larger one, catching its head with his bat, watching as it shot off. Black blood oozed from the body and splashed Pete. By now, he was practically drenched in the disgusting liquid.  
When done, Pete immediately started sprinting in the direction that Gerard went toward. To his relief the vampire was still alive but to his chagrin, was getting beaten to a pulp. Patrick was unconscious in a chair and Pete went over to help, before remembering what Gerard did.   
He started attacking the demons, fighting with everything he's got. The demon was significantly larger and pinned him against the wall in seconds. The thing wrapped its large hands around Pete's neck and the ghost was surprised to feel pain, to feel on the brink of dying yet again. Blackness started crawling all over his skin and he wheezed out a breath for help.  
Mikey, the taller vampire that Pete was fighting with, came into his vision and threw the demon to the ground, tearing him to shreds with his teeth. Pete groaned and looked up to a flash of light, seeing Patrick awake and getting out of his ropes using the demon markings. Pete smiled and ran over to the younger, but startled as a demon watched him with his red eyes before promptly picking Patrick up by his neck and tossing him over the roof. Pete screamed and ran to the edge, jumping off after Patrick.  
He twisted in the air and grabbed ahold of the medium, putting Patrick in front of him and wrapping his body around the teen. He made sure that he was going to take the brunt of the fall and that Patrick would be okay.   
It all seemed to be happening in slow motion and Patrick looked genuinely terrified, something Pete hated seeing on his friend's face. His still heart stopped when he realized that if Patrick was to die now, he would never get to kiss those soft lips. Oh fuck, Pete loved him. He loved Patrick and his hips and beautiful eyes. His intelligence and kindness, beauty and grace. And fuck, Pete was wrapped around the guy's finger. He would do anything for him. He would die again and again and again for Patrick.   
Just in case he died. He had to say it.

"Patrick!"

The wind ruffled their clothes as they continued to fall and Pete noticed just how close to the ground they are. Patrick looked scared and sad. Pete wanted to wipe those emotions away for good.

"Pete."

The younger's voice was hoarse and breathy. Pete could've kissed him then.

"I love you."

And the ground rushed up to them, Pete landing first with Patrick on top of him. His head hit the ground with enough force to send him into shock, wrapping his arms tighter around the younger man in his arms. He looked down when it was all said and done and gagged at the sight. He couldn't move his body from his place. He needed Brendon to do something. Patrick looked twisted and in pain, still breathing.  
After a minute Pete still couldn't move from his spot but he saw Gerard rushing towards them, thank god. One thing was for certain though.

The sound of Patrick's bones crunching and blood splattering on the pavement, body squelching and chest rattling with every intake of breath, will forever be implanted in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My favorite animals are sharks, what about you guys hahahahhaha. 


	11. Honey, you're not dead but I sure as hell am

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt bad so I had this lil chapter prepared...can't leave ya hanging for that long ;) sorry not sorry

Brendon was too busy trying to understand what the man in front of him was trying to say as Josh and Dallon held him down inside the makeshift demon catcher on the ground to hear someone come in the room. Brendon scratched his head, surveying the Latin words on the pages in front of him.

"Uh, I think he said something about ruling the underworld???"

Ryan scoffed, "sounds about right, continue."

"Uhhhhhh-look guys this guy is talking a mile a minute I'm never gonna be able to translate what he's saying. Why don't we just-"

"He's talking in Romanian, not Latin. That's why you're mistaking everything he's saying. Plus, he's telling you about Aaron. Literally begging for his life, how did you not catch any of this? Isn't Romanian also part of witch's tongue?"

Brendon couldn't help but scream loudly when he turned around and found that, no, he didn't know who this strange vampire standing in the middle of the room was. 

"Relax, I'm Mikey, Gerard's brother."

Spencer tilted his head, "why are you here? Where's Pete and Patrick?"

Mikey looked down, a frown on his face, "have you guys ever witnessed someone literally fall from a building and onto pavement, heard their bones crunching and the sound of their skin slapping onto the ground below?"

Brendon gave the guy a 'what the fuck?' look before giving the same one to his friends.

"No! Why would we even-?"

Dallon, ever the smart one, spoke up, "who fell?"

Mikey looked at Brendon and gave him a 'come here' motion with his hands. Brendon was reluctant to follow but did anyway, "what's up?"

"Out in the courtyard, Gerard is waiting for you. We need a healing spell and you're the only witch here. I can translate this guy easily so go, and bring your spell book."

Brendon grabbed his book off the counter and looked at Mikey with confusion all over his face. Quickly, Brendon walked down the twisted halls and could only think the worst. And hey, he only got lost twice so kudos to him right? When he reached the exit doors he started sprinting across the courtyard, searching for Gerard.  
He spotted a head of red hair and thanked his lucky stars. Until he spotted what Gee was kneeling next to. Brendon urged his legs to go faster and slid on his knees, coming face-to-face with the sudden realization that Patrick might not be breathing.

"Fuck! Fuck, Gerard what the fuck?!"

Gerard heaved a breath, "calm down. I need you to stay calm or the spell you're about to perform won't fucking work, okay?"

Brendon nodded, noticing how Pete was slowly working his ghostly form out from under Patrick. Brendon was confused for almost a split second before he remembered that Pete was a fucking ghost, he couldn't die. Sometimes, he was so human-like it was easy to forget what he was.

"Pete, is he-?"

"N-no, he's still breathing but it's...it's pretty bad..."

Brendon nodded, "I-I know how to heal faster and more efficient without the book, my mother taught me so...fucking hell, what happened?"

Brendon felt warm blood flow from his best friend's body and onto his own clothes. A sob wracked his body and Brendon was quick to calm and take a deep breath. He needed to do this, for Patrick. His friend wasn't dead, not yet.

"We were fighting and...this, God he was huge, he was a demon a-and he just picked up 'trick like a rag doll and th-threw him over...I jumped after him..."

Gerard nodded, "I saw and if Pete hadn't done what he did, Patrick would be dead."

Brendon nodded, wringing his shaking hands together, "okay, I'm gonna need you guys to be quiet now, I need to pretend that you're not even there..."

Brendon closed his eyes, murmuring in Latin. A warmth spread across his body and he felt his hands glow hotly. He carefully reached out and placed them on Patrick's chest, not even wincing when broken bones crunched underneath his hands and blood oozed out of his friend's head. When Brendon opened his eyes they were burning with a golden passion, and he saw the effects of his healing spell through a golden haze.  
He heard bones cracking and popping as they mended back together, the telltale squish of organs being put back in place. A disgusting squelch told Brendon that Patrick's left lung was no longer punctured by his ribs. Blood was back inside the body and Patrick's breathing pattern was regular.  
Brendon closed his eyes and reopened them, no longer gold and is hands no longer glowing hot. His friend took a deep breath and his eyes shot open. Patrick immediately shot forward and Pete surged in for a hug, Brendon heaving a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank fuck, I thought you were going to die."

Brendon and Patrick both looked at Gerard, very confused as to why the vampire suddenly cared, "what?"

Pete furrowed his brows, "you okay?"

Patrick sat up further, "uh, yeahhh...why? What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

Patrick thought hard, "I remember being on the roof with you and Gerard fighting but then everything is blank...no I don't remember anything up until this point."

Pete visibly deflated, twirling his thumbs. Brendon was glad Patrick didn't remember that kind of pain, "you fell from a roof. I saved you so, go Brendon! Anyways, let's get you up and back to the others, okay?"

Patrick nodded, accepting Brendon's help. Pete looked solemn and Brendon wondered why. 

"You guys go, me and Pete have to have a talk, we'll clean up the demons okay?"

Brendon narrowed his eyes skeptically, "okay."

"Great! Oh, and tell Mikey that I'm ready to go."

Patrick rubbed his forehead, starting off in the direction of the building. Brendon watched as the younger picked up his fedora from the ground.

"So you really don't remember anything?"

Patrick shook his head, "no, I think I remember being thrown...no, not really. No I don't remember."

Brendon shrugged, "eh, not your problem. I'm just glad that you don't have to remember all that pain, looked like it hurt more than dying."

Patrick nodded, "where are the others?"

"Talking with that teacher. Hopefully they've gotten somewhere by now, come on."

They walked back into the building, stealthily going down winding hallways and into the one housing his friends. Brendon held open the door for Patrick to quite the sight. Mikey was in the guy's face, smiling sadistically. Dallon and Josh were supporting the teacher's weight and Ryan and Spencer just looked plain confused.

"Uh, Mikey?"

Mikey stood back and sighed, "the only thing I got out of him was that Aaron's only weakness is loyalty...y'know, friendship? And the kid's humanity. I also have a date and place, the twenty fifth at the local amusement park here."

Patrick smiled his thanks and Mikey nodded, "yeah uh, also this paper he gave me is written in Latin and that's like the only language I don't know."

Brendon skimmed it over and got out his spell book, easily translating the words.

"Oh, oh no. Shit."

Ryan spoke up and just his voice alone was making Brendon's heart flutter, "what is it?"

Dallon was next to speak and Brendon went weak in the knees, holy shit these men, "Brendon?"

He shook his head to clear his thought, "um, it says that there's like a horrible witch recipe to regain Aaron's physical form to make the kid more stronger and right here is the ingredients and two names. Written next to the names are psychic and witch."

Tyler whistled, "what're the names?"

"Uh, Andy and Joe."

Mikey visibly paled and choked hard, "oh, no. I need to get Gerard and we need to go tell Frank. Andy and Joe are really powerful and we need to fucking help them stay away from these assholes."

Brendon looked up and saw Dallon let go of the teacher, only to have Tyler take his place, "we've got it from here, you guys go tell Gerard and Pete, we'll meet at the car."

Patrick squeaked, "what're you going to do with him?"

"It doesn't matter, he's not human."

Mikey smiled, "that's our cue to leave, c'mon."

They all filed out the doors and Brendon was last, he had to make sure Patrick was right in front of him. As they were leaving and before Mikey shut the door, he heard the sound of a loud and sickening crack, then a thud. Brendon shivered as he knew that Tyler just broke the teacher's neck. Gross.

 

"Hey wait, Dallon, Ryan! Wait up!"

Boy was he planning on getting into both of their pants before the end of this debacle.

00000000000000000000000000000

Pete was practically being lectured by Gerard and he was mostly sick of it. You know, until he brought up the part about him crushing on Patrick. That's a little too much.

"Don't tell him that again, okay? It's a hard burden."

Pete snorted, "fucking seriously? Okay, right...like you would know! I'm a fucking ghost for christ's sake!!"

"Not for long!!!"

Pete stalled and turned toward Gerard, watching as the older's eyes went wide in realization and he cursed.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?"

 

"You're becoming human Pete. That was the deal between you and Frank. A life for a life. The one thing you don't know is that it's happening faster than you expected."

"A life for a life? Who's life am I taking?"

Gerard bit his lip with his sharp fangs, "who else's?"

Pete paled, "Patrick's..? No, Gerard that's fucked up."

"Why do you think I'm trying so hard to keep him alive? If it weren't for me, he'd be dead already."

"You're a sick fuck, you know that?"

"You're not gonna be able to see him when he dies Pete, you're not a medium. And plus, you were already a ghost so magic and shit won't work on you. Only science. You need to know that if you tell him that you love him, he's going to live with that for forever with no way of telling you anything, okay?"

"Quit talking like he's dying."

"He is dying Pete, and we can't save him. A life for a life. It's how the world works."

Pete growled, "if your mind is so set on this then why don't you just piss off and stop trying to help us!"

"I'm preparing you for the worst, I don't want you to fail."

 

"Fuck you."

Gerard sighed heavily, "look Pete, I'm doing the best that I can. I'm just trying to tell you to wait and tell him until this blows over."

"You said yourself that you won't be able to save him."

"Yes, but it's still a chance. A life for a life. If Patrick doesn't die, someone else has to."

"No."

"I'm sorry Pete," Mikey's soft footsteps were coming towards them and Gerard looked up, "I've gotta go talk to Frank about some things, goodbye."

When Pete looked up, his friends were gone and he cursed himself and everyone around him. Patrick came over and laid a hand on his shoulder, a comforting gesture.

"Gerard and Mikey went to go get Frank to help us with-are you okay?"

"Not really."

Patrick smiled, kind and sweet and Pete sorta wanted to kiss the boy, "we can go to Brendon's, the supernatural beings will be able to find us, trust me."

Pete looked at Patrick and studied his face hard for the day where he won't be able to see him again. He sighed deeply, caught up in the blue eyes and plump lips, square jaw and cute nose.

He sighed, heaving a shaking breath, "Patrick?"

"Yeah Pete?"

 

"I'm sorry."

Patrick laughed, "don't be, it's not your fault shit hit the fan over and over again. We'll all be fine and when this is over, you can meet my dog Penny. She's a real sweetheart. I would think that you could meet my mom but sadly she can't see ghosts. Dogs can though...right?"

Pete laughed and he didn't say, "when this is over you won't be alive for me to meet your dog," instead he nodded and smiled, enjoying Patrick's company while he still can.

"Patrick?"

"Yeah?"

"You deserve the world."

Patrick blushed and Pete smiled, letting the kid continue in his mindless rambling. He could listen to him for hours, just hearing his voice calmed Pete down.

Later, when they're in the car and driving back to Brendon's, Patrick leans over and whispers in Pete's ear, "Pete?"

"Yeah, 'trick?"

"If I deserve the world then you deserve the stars."

Pete didn't have an intelligent enough of an answer, he just sat dumbfounded and watched as Patrick fell asleep against the window. He was head over heels.

It was going to kill him...again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy what's ur favorite horror movie, mine's 'The Conduring' (I like the sequel a lot too...)


	12. Dark Tunnel Confessions and Ghost Town Confusions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're welcome

"Frank."

"What?"

Gerard sighed, glancing back at his younger brother who was gracefully perched atop the balcony railing. They had come to tell Frank about what had happened and Gerard was honestly preparing for the worst, Frank had an Italian anger that was not to be disrupted.

"Well," Gerard cleared his throat and stared out at the window passed Frank and out onto the city of Baltimore. He had ran here, as fast as he could from Chicago. This is where they were holed up and waiting. For what? Gerard didn't know, Frank wouldn't tell him.

"Gee? I'm sorta busy, get on with it."

Gerard glanced back at Frank and sighed, seeing the papers scattered across the man's desk. He really was busy, they all were. But Frank was doing the dirty work. Again, Gerard didn't know what he was doing, the half demon wouldn't tell him.

"Your...friends? Yeah, your friends are in trouble."

Frank glanced up, unimpressed, and then looked back down at his work, "why don't you deal with it. That's what you're here for, aren't you?"

Gerard winced. Sometimes Frank could be so mean without meaning to. Gerard loved Frank and he knows that the feeling is mutual. But with people watching, it has to be a totally professional relationship. Well, as professional as it can be between two rival species. Gerard really wanted them to leave, he didn't trust any demon other than Frank and the two guards standing at the door kept looking at him with disgusting grins on their faces. It made Gerard sick.

"Frank."

Frank looked up, worry and concern filling his eyes. Gerard felt a chill run down his spine when Frank's eyes flashed to all black for a split second before he put down his pen and turned towards the door.

"Out. I call you back in when I'm ready."

They left without another word and Gerard instantly felt lighter. He stepped across the floor and sat on top of the desk, staring into Frank's eyes.

Frank looked at him, adoration across his features, "yes?"

"Andy and Joe, they're being tracked down by Aaron. He needs them to make a physical form of himself and to be stronger."

Frank hummed, "that's not good. Is that all?"

"Patrick almost died but Brendon healed him."

Frank looked angry for a split second and then became neutral yet again. Gerard began to trace the man's tattoos.

"Is Mikey looking for them?"

Gerard looked over at Mikey, "he's trying. Give him an hour, he'll have the location and we can go look for them with the others."

Frank sighed, "he's a tracker, tell him he's working under severe pressure. Trackers are hard to come by but I could find another one of his species."

Gerard smirked down at the tattooed man, "no you won't. You could, but you won't."

Frank growled, "why are you right most of the time?"

"It runs in my veins. Anyways, hurry up and finish what you're doing or find a stopping point because I think Mikey is almost done."

Gerard heard Frank sigh and he furrowed his brows, confused.

"Look Gee, I'm not going with you guys...I can't. I'm trying really hard to help solve this whole situation pretty quickly and I don't need anymore distractions. You and Mikey can go, just make sure to bring Andy and Joe back to me in one piece, okay?"

Gerard visibly deflated, "but-"

Frank silenced him with a glare and Gerard crossed his arms, pouting. He got off the desk and started heading out towards the balcony where Mikey was.

"Fine."

Gerard closed the screen door leading out onto the balcony and climbed up to where Mikey was, gently leaning his head against his sibling's shoulder.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Gerard huffed, "easy for you to say. You got anything?"

Mikey nodded, "yeah, I had results about fifteen minutes ago but I thought that you guys should talk it all out, y'know."

Gerard winced, "you know it won't work out, MikeyWay. It's just a matter of time."

"Yeah, but you're not doing anything are you? You're fine, but do something Gee. Make this work."

Gerard shook his head solemnly, "I don't know how," he bit his lip, "I'm gonna get a kid killed and Frank is literally a huge no no in my book...and I have a very strong fucking feeling that-"

Mikey jumped up, "like, 'feeling-feeling' or just feeling?"

Gerard knew what he was talking about, knew about how Mikey was the only one to know he was a seer, "kinda? I mean, it's not as strong. But, I'm most certain that we can't do anything to save Andy and Joe...or Patrick. But I mean, shit changes right?"

Mikey shook his head and Gerard knew he was right. Vampire Seers get feelings about some things and no matter how hard they try, it's not like a psychic's 'possible outcome' of the future, it's something you can't change. It's blurry too, not a clear vision. It's hard to come by, extremely rare. Like their situation at hand.

"It's not every day a bunch of demons decide to take over Chicago."

Mikey snorted, "you okay?"

"Just contemplating...you remember being alive?"

Mikey looked at him and studied with a hard gaze, "no," Gerard shivered at the cold tone.

"Me neither," he lied.

Mikey got up from his perch and went inside to console Frank, after a bit Gerard followed. 

"You two should go do that then."

Shame how he only catches the last bit of their conversations most of the time. Gerard looked at Frank as Mikey was leaving the room and saw worry and concern in his eyes.

"I love you."

Gerard smiled back before following his brother out the doors. For some reason, he never could find it in himself to say it back.

"Gee? You ready to go?"

Gerard looked over and saw his brother standing outside the double doors from Frank's office. He looked over his shoulder and sighed, a strange nostalgic feeling washing over him.

"I guess."

Mikey was gone in a flash and Gerard stayed put, allowing his brother to catch a head start. When he got to the count of five, he started sprinting as fast as he could. Mikey was fast, but Gerard had experience and was ultimately faster. Within a matter of seconds, he took the lead. He breathed in cold air and made a sharp left on a highway, heading in the direction of Chicago.

0000000000000000000000000000

Patrick glanced over at Pete, worry filling his every being. The ghost was acting strange ever since Patrick woke up from...whatever happened. Patrick's heart yearned every time Pete would shrug off his touch. He was starting to get frustrated.

"You know, I'm starting to think he doesn't want to see my dog."

Brendon started laughing hard, clapping his hands and splattering flour everywhere.

"Hey! Watch it! Your mom is gonna be pissed if we have any remanence of our horrible baking skills!"

Brendon started calming down, muttering out a half hearted "sorry."

"No offense 'trick, but I don't think you quite understand how this works."

Patrick raised a brow, "and you do?"

"How do you think I got my title as school slut?"

"Good point. Continue."

Brendon snorted out a laugh, "well, he's been acting strange ever since you fell off a fucking roof and literally splattered all over him. Like fucking Humpty Dumpty."

Patrick winced, "nice one Bren, I don't need to think about my bones breaking in a hundred different ways right now."

"Sorry but, it's true. And it was fucking terrifying seeing you like that, imagine how he feels. He was literally a witness to the sounds of you dying Treestump, dying."

"So he feels like he should distance himself from me? That doesn't make sense..."

Brendon rolled his eyes, "people deal with traumatic experiences differently."

"It wasn't traumatic, Bren."

"Well, it was for me. Imagine what it was like for him. If you remembered the feeling, you would probably agree with us."

Patrick bit his lip, "I'm sorry."

"Eh, it's not your fault. Plus, thanks to me you're still here so, yay."

Brendon began rolling out the cookie dough and Patrick shook his head fondly, grabbing the cookie cutters from the pantry. He heard light footsteps starting to approach the kitchen and turned, smiling at Tyler.

"Frank just called, Mikey and Gerard are on their way and should be here any minute now."

Brendon beamed at the younger teen, "okay! Thanks!"

Patrick nodded at Tyler and watched as he left. The hunter was definitely more comfortable around them now that he's been there for a while. He was honestly really chill and funny, a sort of sarcastic and sassy humor followed the younger teen around. 

"Also," Patrick looked up to the sound of Brendon's hushed voice, "I know you have a crush on him."

Patrick paled and watched as Brendon stuck his tongue out, "shut the fuck up! You can't just say that when he's in the other room!"

"Oh my god, you actually do have a crush?! I was just playing!"

Brendon started breaking down in hysterics and Patrick rubbed his face tiredly, "shut up Bren."

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone but just so you know, we're all betting on who makes the first move so..."

Patrick yelped, "you all know?!"

"It's kind of obvious, no offense."

"Ugh, you suck so much. Finish the cookies by yourself."

"Wait no! Trick!"

Patrick laughed as he left the kitchen, going over to the couch where Dallon and Ryan were seated. It was kind of funny actually, they seemed to be hitting it off well. Maybe they'd get together and leave Brendon in the dust. Patrick hopes so. He laughed to himself and sat on the other couch across from his two friends, watching as they looked up at him.

"What's up?"

"Brendon's an ass."

"What's new?"

"He's also got a great ass."

Patrick and Dallon both looked at Ryan, "what? He does."

Scratch it, there's no way that Brendon won't be with at least one of them by the end of this.

"Ew."

Dallon laughed and got off the couch, moving over to the door, "I was gonna-"

The door flung open and hit Dallon on the shoulder, causing Brendon-who had just entered the room to yell at Patrick for leaving him-to burst out laughing. Gerard and Mikey sauntered inside, looking at Dallon's most likely dislocated shoulder and wincing. 

"Shit, sorry. Anyways, Mikey knows where Andy and Joe are if you want to start up the car and meet us there, we can survey the place out before you get there. Save us some time."

Dallon looked to be on the verge of screaming out in pain as Pete came in the room to survey the damage.

"Sounds good. Also what the fuck?"

Brendon was still laughing and Josh was holding Dallon's shoulder, counting to three before popping it back into place on two.

Dallon choked out a muffled scream, Mikey covering his mouth.

Pete still looked confused, "uhhh??? You know what? I honestly don't want to know! Let's all just leave, sort out this bull shit later."

Patrick snorted, getting up off the couch and sauntering over to the door, "okay, but Dallon can't drive so it's on Spence. Where is he anyways?"

Ryan groaned, "probably still sleeping. You got that air horn from your birthday party around here?"

It seemed as though everyone finally agreed on something as they all simultaneously said "no."

Ryan just shrugged and walked off, Tyler yelling at him, "don't you dare do it Ross! We do not need a fully formed fucking werewolf running wild in the god damn house!"

Patrick sighed and looked up at Pete,"I'm going out to the car."

Pete nodded, following Patrick out to the jeep. Patrick's heart panged when the man didn't say anything back to him.

He was being ignored.

0000000000000000000000000000

Surprisingly, the ride to wherever the fuck they were going was uneventful. Patrick seriously thought that there would be at least one fight, but sadly no, just Punk music and the occasional argue over who gets the aux chord. He could tell that they were near their destination, a sort of eerie silence fell over the town they had driven into. It looked deserted.

"Patrick?"

He glanced up at Josh and smiled, "hm?"

"This place is like...a ghost town?" Josh looked at Tyler for confirmation and beamed when the hunter nodded, realizing that he got the term right, "and ghost towns are literal hell for hunters. It's hard to track the things you can't see. Gerard said that the ghosts were friendly here and would lead us to the exact place of Andy and Joe, we just need you to be our way of communication."

Patrick nodded, "okay? What do I have to do?"

Spencer hummed from the front, "see the ghosts and lead us to the culprits. If they talk to you, translate to us. Capiche?"

Patrick nodded, waiting until the car stopped to sneak a glance at Pete. He looked worried.

"Pete...?"

Pete jerked and looked at him with a raised brow.

"Andy and Joe are your friends too, right?"

At his nod Patrick sighed, "I'll make sure they're safe, okay?"

Pete looked conflicted for a split second and Patrick thought he almost imagined the pain on his friend's face.

"Pete...?"

Pete had turned and pulled open the door, hopping out of the jeep, "let's go Patrick."

Patrick nodded solemnly and got out, getting immediately thrusted towards the front of the group. He breathed in deeply and almost choked on the smell of death in the air. Patrick looked down at his hands and watched as they glowed blue. The glow was dull and Patrick swiveled around until it became brighter, starting off in the direction it pointed him in. He was watching both of his hands and didn't bother to look up until he was further in the ghost town.  
He had gasped, surprised at how many dead spirits were wandering the grounds. Some looked plain and others seemed surprised that they were there.   
He had seen a little old native American lady on a porch, looking out onto the town. Patrick shivered as her form flickered from bloody and torn then back to normal. He felt a strong and compulsive urge to speak with her.  
He began walking towards her and took the steps up to the porch two at a time. He looked down at her and she glanced at him, bored and expressionless, before flickering once again.

"Excuse me?"

She looked at him and smiled, then nodded.

Patrick tilted his head and watched as she extended out a bony hand, pointing in the direction of the forest next to the town. When she spoke it was gravelly and low, years of age coming out through her voice. Patrick thought that she had sounded like the personification of nature creating itself.

"Your friends are there. Joe said you'd be able to find them. But be quick, they are in danger."

Patrick smiled and nodded at her, "thank you."

"Hurry, parvum miraculum."

Patrick studied the words she was speaking and turned to his friends, smiling.

"We have to hurry but they're in the forest."

Dallon snorted, "do you even know what you just said?"

"Uh, what?"

Spencer coughed, "look, kid...you just spoke in a totally different language to nothing."

Pete spoke up, "actually, he was speaking to a very nice Native American lady. She told us where to go."

Brendon shook his head, "you guys are all idiots, let's go save the other newest editions to our team."

Gerard turned, already starting off into the direction of the forest, "no, they hate me and Frank so they'll hate you guys. You're worse than us and there's no way that they're joining us."

Pete spoke up, "correction, they love me and we've been friends since I died. They just really have a sneaking suspicion that you and Frank are going to attack them. They were trained like that, who could blame em?"

"Another reason why I hate hunters."

Tyler glared hard at Mikey as they all made their way across to the forest, "what the fuck? I'm a hunter."

Gerard barked out a laugh, "oh, he knows."

Josh started chuckling and earned a hard glare from Tyler as well as a half hearted mutter of, "you're out of the fucking group."

Josh pouted the rest of the way to the forest. It took them awhile but they made it through the forest and onto a large clearing, Patrick's hands were glowing hotly.

"I think this is it."

He looked around and squinted his eyes, pushing his box framed glasses back up his nose. The overwhelming and yet comforting smell of Pete grew near and Patrick turned to face the older ghost, surprised that he was finally acknowledging him.

"Patrick, look. I need to tell you something and I'm going against every sense of judgement to do this so-"

Patrick jumped at the sound of Brendon loudly calling out to them, "Guys! I found a hatch over here!"

Patrick pulled his cardigan close and looked back at Pete who was biting his lip.

"What was that Pete?"

"Never mind, let's just go."

Pete stalked off in front of him and Patrick sighed deeply, following behind the taller spirit. As Pete walked ahead Patrick swore that he saw his form flicker to a more solid figure, then back again. Patrick rubbed his eyes, confused.   
When he got to where the others were he saw Spencer grunting and prying open a hatch, everyone else standing by and watching. Patrick raised a brow and Ryan simply replied with, "super strength."

Makes sense.

Once the hatch was open, Brendon immediately jumped inside. A loud groan and the sound of a body hitting the ground hard was heard.

"Fuck! I think I broke my arm! It huuuurrrrtssss!"

Gerard glanced down and Patrick watched as he simply grabbed ahold of a ladder on the inside of the hatch and climbed down. Patrick was next to go and then Ryan and Dallon.

It was dark inside and Patrick almost tripped over Brendon's groaning body.

"Bden, get up we gotta go."

Brendon pouted and Ryan came over, surveying the damage, "it looks broken. Heal it, dumbass."

Patrick had to look away from the sudden onslaught of bright light and saw Pete worriedly looking down a long tunnel way. Patrick went over to him, curiosity filling his every being.

"You think they're down there?"

Pete turned to say something but was interrupted by the others loudly yelling at each other. Patrick grimaced as they play fought and argued. They were gonna get caught.

"If they're there Pete, we have to hurry. These guys are too rowdy at the moment, it'll take a while to calm them."

Pete nodded, "they're arguing over who gets what flashlight. Brendon wants the pink one."

Patrick heaved a breath, "are we going then?"

Pete nodded and Patrick focused on his hands, watching as they glowed a urethral blue. Pete chuckled beside him and Patrick rolled his eyes, taking the lead down the dark tunnel.   
Patrick started humming to himself halfway down. It wasn't as scary as it would be alone. For some reason, everything is way less terrifying with friends. You wouldn't be doing stupid shit without them, Patrick takes pride and comfort knowing he's not in this alone.

"What're you thinking about?"

Patrick startled and turned to Pete, "uh, nothing really. Just noticing how much of a wimp I'd be if I were to go through this alone."

Pete nodded and Patrick decided that it was a good time as any to ask him, "what's got you ignoring me all of a sudden?"

Pete gaped at him, "I am not-!"

"Yeah Pete, you are. It's pretty obvious too. You aren't as close to me as you were before...before I fell."

Pete huffed, "bull shit. Patrick, I'm fucking scared okay?"

At Patrick's raised brow he continued, "yeah, I know right? I shouldn't really be scared, I can't die and nothing can touch me unless I want it to. But Patrick...you can die and the reality of that hit me so fucking hard when I felt all of your bones breaking on top of me. It was horrible and I will never forget that feeling."

Patrick bit his lip.

"I'm here now Pete, and I know that I'm going to get out of here alive because I have you to fucking protect me. I'm not gonna die, I won't allow it. For you, I'll stay alive okay? And even if I were to die, I don't think pushing me away will ever stop it."

"Patrick! You're only human, you bleed and break so easily and I can't stand to watch that! Stop talking like you're invincible!"

"I know that I'm not invincible Pete!Please, I'm reminded of that everyday. But I literally have friends on the other side. And I'm careful and so are you. Don't push me away because of what happened! I won't let myself die just yet so stop acting like I'm already dead, okay?"

 

"Only if you knew!"

Patrick stalled and Pete scoffed, shook his head.

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"Forget it."

Patrick growled, "Pete, no, tell me right now or I'm fucking gone. I will leave you and everyone else to do this alone. If this concerns my wellbeing then you better fucking spit it out right fucking now!"

Pete looked at Patrick and the younger almost flinched away from the amount of sadness and anger in his eyes. He was regretting asking now.

"Pete...?"

"There's no way around it so I might as well tell you so you have a heads up. Let me start from the beginning."

Patrick stayed silent as Pete caught his breath, "I was bribed by Frank to ask help from you. At first we only needed Brendon but then we found out you were a medium and well, we needed you as well. Frank told me that if I helped, they'd get me my life back. I didn't know what that would mean so I went along with it. After you fell Gerard finally told me the other part of the deal; in order for a life to be given, a life must be taken. He then told me that it was almost inevitable that you were...you were gonna die."

Patrick paled and looked down at the markings on his hands.

"Then make the most of it, don't fucking distance yourself from me-"

"Patrick! You don't understand! I'd rather die over and over again for fucking years rather than live a life without you. I can't do that to you."

His heart was in his throat, "what do you mean?"

Pete stepped closer, slowly raising his hands to rest on the side of Patrick's face.

"When you fell I told you something, something that you must've forgotten."

Patrick swallowed hard, "what d-did you say?"

Pete licked his lips and leaned in close, "I promised to never say it again, but since you're dying I guess it leaves me with no choice, make the most right?"

Patrick could only stare into Pete's sparkling eyes. His stomach was doing tiny flips. He felt as though he was filled with half fear, half adrenaline. The kind of feeling that makes your heart jump and your stomach drop. The kind that makes your chest throb and your limbs go numb.

Pete's breath ghosted across his face as he softly whispered, "I love you."

And their lips collided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Favorite artist? Michelangelo all the way for me.


	13. Bang The Doldrums, Or Bang Down The Doors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhhhhhh hi. Um, after this whole fic is over, I'm gonna make a new Peterick one with a GTA style au because I fucking love grand theft auto, it's one of my fav games. So if you wanna read that, lemme know and I'll try and put out the first chap as soon as I can. :)

Patrick was breathless, holding onto Pete's shoulders. When they finally broke apart, Patrick felt the need to go back and feel the wonderful leg numbing, chest throbbing sparks. He almost whimpered when Pete stood back and stared him in the eyes, gasping for breath. There was a certain sparkle in Pete's eyes and Patrick couldn't help the little breathy laugh he gave. Pete raised a brow skeptically at that.

"What..?"

Patrick smiled, pushing his head into Pete's shoulder, "one thing's for certain Pete, the feeling's mutual."

Pete had given him a relieved smile and then kissed him on the forehead, ducking underneath the fedora.

"You're mine okay?"

Patrick rolled his eyes, "till death do us part."

Pete laughed and Patrick saw the ghost's face flicker again, "not fucking funny when you're literally gonna die."

"You laughed, didn't you?"

Pete shook his head fondly and grabbed Patrick's hand, leading him the rest of the way down the tunnel. Patrick felt a giddy sort of happy. And although they just kissed and are probably going to keep kissing like nothing matters anymore, their relationship felt normal. Like, 'best friends and nothing is awkward between us' normal. It felt good to know that because Patrick had a feeling that they were going to last for a very long time.

"Fuck, crossroads...any idea which way?"

Patrick looked between the two metal doors and a long and dark hallway with barely any lights. The markings on his hands lit up and Patrick smirked, pointing down the scary hall.

"That way!"

Pete groaned, "I was sorta hoping you weren't going to say that but, here we are..."

Patrick led them down the hall, ignoring the breathy whispers surrounding them. Every time Patrick would turn the direction of the light towards what he thought was something lurking in the dark, it would hiss and scurry away, giving Patrick no time at all to see what it was.

"What are those things?"

"Night crawlers. My Mother used to tell me about how they would steal children from their cradles and once they grew old enough, ripped them of their flesh and bit the outside of their ear. If they bite you, you turn into one of them. It sounds scary but when I was younger I always felt a sense of...sympathy for them."

Patrick nodded as though he could relate. He really could though. Sometimes he felt sorry for the people who picked on him at school, they probably didn't have a great a life as Patrick if they were constantly taking out their anger on the weak. Ever since Brendon came along in Sophomore year though, they stayed away. Mostly because Bden supplied their weed for parties but, you know.  
They passed a large and looming door and Patrick's markings flashed. He backtracked and looked at Pete before grabbing the handle and gently twisting it. He took a deep breath and pulled open the door, flinching at the darkness. Pete shone his flashlight around the room and the light landed on a door. There was light glowing from the door cracks and Pete grabbed Patrick's hand, leading him to the door.  
Patrick honestly didn't like this room. It was full of hissing and way more whispers than what was deemed necessary. There was also open and empty cages strung around. Everything made him uneasy and on one cage there was ectoplasm and black liquid trailing away. Patrick shivered and fearfully focused his gaze on Pete until they got to the door on the other side of the huge room.

Pete had stalled with his hand on the doorknob, waiting to open it.

Patrick lightly hit him on the shoulder, "well?" He whispered.

Pete furrowed his brows and leaned his head against the door, ear near a crack, "shush, I hear voices."

Patrick frowned and mimicked Pete's position, desperately trying to hear as well. His eyes widened when he heard soft and muddled voices, one deeper and darker than the other two. Patrick felt a wave of emotion from the particular grumbling voice.

"Aaron.."

Patrick shot his head up to look at Pete. 

"Shit! Are they already performing the ritual?"

They were talking in hushed voices but Pete nodded, afraid of being overheard.

The rumbling voice started up again, "I'm leaving you no choice."

A tired and bored sounding man spoke up, "yeah, uh-huh. See, the thing about being a psychic is that I can actually see my own future and I know that if I keep stalling you, something's going to happen."

Patrick flinched at the sound of loud growling and strained his ears to be able to hear a smaller sounding voice, different than the other two, "we want no trouble."

"Then perform the ritual."

"See, we can't do that, it's against my rightful honor to the earth."

A chuckle from the bored man, "he's what I like to call a straight-edge witch. So no, we won't obey your fucking wishes, we have our own moral codes to abide."

There was the sound of a crash before Aaron spoke again, "then I will make you."

A laugh, "yeah, like I said, I'm a fucking psychic and I can literally see that not happening...right, Pete?"

Patrick pulled away from the door and glanced up at Pete who was swiftly pulling open the door.

"Right, Joe."

When Patrick looked from the two men in the room towards Aaron, he immediately wanted to look away. His form was black and shadowed, flickering in the glow from the lights. He had multiple demonic heads that looked as if they were sewed together. 

Aaron smiled, cruel and disturbing, "this must be Patrick! I've heard so many things about you from my friends."

Pete audibly growled and wrapped a protective arm around Patrick's shoulders. Aaron grinned wider. When he spoke again, Patrick flinched away and wanted to hide at the sound of multiple voices speaking at once.

"No need Pete, there's a reason he has those demon markings."

Patrick tilted his head in confusion, "I thought they-"

Joe spoke up, "now's not the time, is this a rescue mission or what?"

Patrick furrowed his brows and Aaron drifted closer to them, "oh dear Patrick, I'm only a young child, hurt and betrayed by Pete's jock friends. Where were you Pete, when I was hurt and beaten? All alone?!"

Pete paled and Patrick glanced between them, "you were friends?"

The one with the most tattoos-he must be Andy since the other one was Joe-spoke up, "on the contrary. He doesn't remember Aaron, and he won't. You were the one that killed him and that's all he knows."

Aaron just simply ignored him, "he killed himself, he brought this upon himself!"

Aaron raised a hand and a gush of wind knocked Patrick away from Pete. Patrick groaned as his back hit the wall to his right. He reached behind him and pulled his hand back, discovering blood oozing from his head.

"Fuck."

Patrick watched as Joe wriggled against the binds in his seat, "you were obsessed with Pete, Aaron. He didn't notice you and that's why you're angry. He never even fucking spoke to you other than the one day during freshman year when he said hi. You're fueled by the fact that his friends hated you for stalking Pete but Pete let you. He didn't want to see what would happen if he truly let his friends go after you."

Aaron growled and charged towards Pete but Joe continued, "Pete wasn't aware of your existence until the day he found you bleeding from a head wound because his friends beat you to a bloody pulp. Even then, he thought of you with nothing but plain and neutral kindness that he gave everyone but the people close to him. You thought of yourself as special but you never will be. Pete doesn't remember any of that because none of it was important to his life. The only time he ever recalled your existence was when you were charging at him with a fucking gun in your hand while his classmates screamed and fled away from the scene in the distance."

Aaron screamed, high pitched and full of pure, unaltered rage. Pete was flashing in and out, desperately trying to dodge the blows by Aaron. 

"Face it Aaron, bad guys don't get happy endings."

Patrick stood up on shaking legs, ignoring the throbbing pulsating from the back of his head. He saw Pete being thrown into a wall out of the corner of his eye and flinched as his friend (boyfriend???) phased through the wall like nothing. Patrick chose to forget and push through the sound of Pete crying out in pain. He wasn't human yet, he was still a ghost and Patrick had to get it through his head that Pete couldn't feel that way yet.  
He shuffled slowly over to where Pete's old friends were tied up and bound to the chairs. He began to hastily untie them, Andy first and then Joe. When the witch was freed he turned and closed his eyes, a bright red and urethral glow coming off of him. Joe grabbed Patrick and they ducked behind a wooden crate, watching as Aaron faced Andy.  
With a swipe of his hand, Aaron was held up against the wall by Andy and Pete was phasing through the other wall.

"C'mon, hurry! Andy can't keep that up for forever!"

Pete looked shocked before grabbing Patrick's hand and running out of the room with him, Joe not far behind.

Patrick managed to breathe out, "what about Andy?"

A loud bang came from behind them and Patrick looked back, seeing Andy running after them with a hint of the red glow. It was dying down and Joe urged them to go faster so that Aaron won't be able to catch up.  
It wasn't long before they reached the area where Patrick last saw all of his friends playfully fighting. Patrick squinted, wishing he hadn't left his glasses back in the car, and noticed that their friends were all in a circle. 

Pete let out a breathy laugh, "it's been a while, eh guys?"

Joe reached over and shoved Pete, both laughing loudly. Patrick smiled at them before biting his lip, he was going to figure out a way to get Pete's past out of that man. 

Patrick looked ahead and kept his jaw set, choosing to pretend not to notice the look of worry Joe gave him. Patrick chalked it up to the man being a psychic and able to see his future. Or what was left of his future anyway.

"Move quickly through the ghost town and don't hesitate, we'll be right behind you. Make sure your friends know this as well."

Pete nodded and Patrick sighed as he watched their friends' heads perk up at the sight of them and their additional members. Patrick stared off into space as Pete explained the situation at hand to the others, they all quickly headed up the ladder and Pete paused, staring at Patrick before a loud roar interrupted his thoughts.

"Let's go Patrick."

Patrick nodded and grabbed Pete's hand, squeezing it.

Pete smiled at him and gently kissed him on the cheek, sending him up the hatch. Patrick turned around once on solid ground and offered Pete his hand. They stood there at the top for Andy and Joe, waiting silently. Joe hauled himself up first, staring Pete in the eye, a hand on the hatch above him.

"I think this is hard for me because I know he's close behind and I know that if we don't do this, there's a horrible future for you. But if I do, Aaron will be able to use us for his benefit. He'll find a way to make us obey. The choices are endless."

Pete furrowed his brows and Patrick watched in confusion. 

Pete clenched his fist, "but you've already decided."

"Exactly. It's the one with the most chances of almost everyone staying alive, leaving with everything they came here with. I'm sorry Pete. I know for a fact that I'll see you soon though, very soon."

Patrick'a eyes widened as he realized what Joe was going to do, "wait! Don't-!"

"Remember the date Mikey gave you from the school. The fairground is your best bet at defeating this asshole."

Pete nodded, determination in his eyes. 

"I guess this is good bye. Oh, and Andy says farewell."

Patrick watched as Joe winked before shutting the hatch and locking it from the inside. Not too long after, loud booming and banging happened from within. Patrick's mouth ran dry at the sound of a very outraged yell, close to the hatch.  
He was in shock and not very compliant. He put up no resistance to Pete as he was carried away from the scene and out to the car. He didn't even know he made it all the way through the ghost town until a door was violently slammed shut and Brendon was carefully putting a seatbelt around Patrick.

He barely managed to croak out a useless, "why...?"

The car was pulling away and Mikey clucked his tongue from where he was sitting, "shit happens. You can mourn later, right now we have a job to do. Judging from what Pete told us, the date that I was told is in exactly three days. We don't have much time to prepare."

Patrick couldn't help the lump that was forming in his throat. He felt cold hands gently touch his shoulder and he looked behind to see Gerard with red hair hanging in front of his face, obscuring his eyes, "if it makes you feel better, they aren't dead."

Patrick scowled, "how would you know?"

Gerard winked, "it's a secret."

And for some dumb reason, Patrick felt that he could finally trust this vampire. Because there was no reality in which Gerard thought Patrick was dumb. He knew that Patrick would catch on, which is why there's a huge wave of relief washing over him at the fact that Gee is a Seer.  
It puts them at an even playing field with Aaron if he decided to use Joe and Andy against their will. More importantly, Joe seemed to act weird around Patrick, like he was walking on eggshells. Maybe the psychic knew the exact day of Patrick's death. Even Gerard was now acting strange.

Patrick took a deep breath and let it all out in one big rush. One thing was for certain, he couldn't help the sense of sadness that overcame him at the thought of leaving Pete so soon.

When he does die, he hopes that the older will forgive him for leaving him alone and scared in the world. Patrick could relate though, he's always been alone and scared. 

Until Pete, that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are all amazing. Also, there's gonna be a whole lot more of Joshler and the Brallon/Ryden shit coming up so hold on to your metaphorical horses cuz it's gon be lit.
> 
> Favorite word? Mine's Serein. (The fine, light rain that falls from a clear sky at sunset or in the early hours of the night; evening serenity.)


	14. Brendon Urie Is A Huge Fan Of Peterick™

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is nigh!!!!! I mean the end of this fic...(I might do an epilogue???yeah...maybe...) Also!!! Thanks a whole bunches to the people who have left kudos and who have commented, you made me continue this story!!! I really can't do this without you so on the last chap, I'll give you all shout outs okay? (Cuz for some dumb reason I can't reply to any of you on here? My dumb thing is broken :(...) stay safe kiddos!

Back at the house Brendon noticed all of three things. One, Patrick and Pete have become what Brendon has dubbed as 'Peterick' once again so that's good news. Two, Gerard looked about three seconds away from verbally ripping off everyone's heads. Which was most likely going to be a problem but the worst thing, Brendon thinks, is what he noticed last. Ryan and Dallon were practically glued at the hip.  
Brendon was pretty sure that if he were a cartoon character, steam would be coming out of his ears. It's not that he was jealous-he swears he's not, even if his heart pangs every time they glance at each other for too long-it's just the fact that they're supposed to be spending time with him as well. Brendon sulked into the kitchen, sick of the gooey smiles that were exchanged between Dallon and Ryan. No, they do not get a ship name, Brendon won't let them have the joy of taking everything from him.  
He landed heavily on a bar stool at the counter and gave one look at Josh, showing off his puppy eyes.

"Stop it, you're gonna give yourself an aneurism."

Brendon huffed indignantly, crossing his arms and puffing out his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to say something when Tyler came in the room and Josh wrapped his transparent arms around the hunter.

Tyler gave Brendon one look and snorted, "is this about Ryllon?"

Brendon looked up so fast that he swore he gave himself whip lash, "what the fuck did you just say?"

Josh smiled at Tyler, "I thought we agreed on Dyan?"

Tyler huffed, "Ryllon is way better."

"Yeah but if we say Dyan out in public, people would just assume that that's a name."

"You're saying Ryllon isn't a name? Josh how could you, I thought we were frens."

"Tyler no, we are."

"I don't think so, not after you just disrespected me."

"Tyler-"

Brendon took a deep breath, "Guys! What the hell? No, it's not just 'Ryan and Dallon'! It's Ryan and Dallon and Brendon! I've been saying this! They don't get a ship name if I'm not included."

Tyler glanced over Josh's shoulder and sighed, "you, my dear friend, are jealous."

Brendon looked appalled, "take that back."

Josh smiled wide, flickering near Tyler, "yeah, you're jelly of those guys. Look, it's not hard to see how much of a fucking connection you three have, I'm vaguely sure that if you went up and kissed both of them right now, they'd be totally fine with it."

Tyler added, "yeah, you guys would be like, the threesome of the century."

Brendon fake gagged, "yeah, no thanks. If they want to be friends, they can be friends. They should just maybe include me more in what they do."

"Like what, kiss?"

Brendon grabbed the (unlit, thank you very much) spiritual candle on his right and hurled it at Tyler's smirking face. Sadly, Brendon's throw was way off and hit the stove behind the two.

"Wow. That was worse than Josh when he went through a rebellious streak and thought he could beat me at basketball."

Brendon nodded in agreement before whining and throwing is head down on the counter, crying out in fake mental agony.

"Brendon,"

He looked up at the genuine seriousness in Tyler's voice.

"If you do like them as much as you're letting on, then do something. We could all literally die tomorrow and not everyone comes back as a ghost, Bren. Tell them, for your sake and theirs. Because from how much they talk about you, I'm almost certain they're as infatuated with you as you are with them."

Brendon bit his lip and blushed, "thanks..."

Josh smiled, "no problem, Forehead!" Brendon rolled his eyes at the nickname and Josh laughed, "me and Tyjo are gonna go to the Taco Bell parking lot and try to scare some kids with my ghostly apparitions, wanna join?"

Nothing was more stress relieving than scaring the wits out of young children, "fuck yes, lemme grab my jacket."

00000000000000000000000000000

Gerard was grinding his teeth in the corner and Mikey was slightly terrified of his older brother. Until he realized that Gerard's just a total fucking drama queen and is most likely just upset about the fact that Frank is gonna be angry at him when they tell him they didn't get Joe and Andy. Mikey sighed heavily, walking over to where his brother was brooding. He kicked him gently in the shin to get his attention before he slid down the wall next to Gee.

"Frank is gonna have my head for this...first Patrick's near death experience and then the situation with Joe and Andy? I'm fucking dead, he's going to actually murder me."

Mikey hummed, listening to his rant.

"I don't think you understand how actually fucking dead I am."

"Gee?"

Gerard looked at him, worrying his lip between his teeth, "yeah?"

"You're an idiot if you think that Frank would blame this on you."

"What makes you think that?"

Mikey huffed, wasn't it obvious? "He loves you, he even fucking tells you he loves you!" He added on a soft and murmured, "but you never say it back, do you...?"

Gerard glared at him, red vampire eyes and sharp fangs showing brightly against his pale skin, "I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

Mikey knew not to say anything back, years of experience with his brother had taught him that. Instead, he opted to study him. He stared at his brother, noticing how his head was buried in his arms, wrapped around his knees that were tucked into his chest. Gerard's hands were shaking and his shoulders would stutter with each rise and fall of his breathing. He watched as Gee's toes curled inwards and his hands clenched in the fabric of his black jeans.  
It was time to intervene.

"Do we have to tell him now?"

Gerard gently lifted his head up and looked in Mikey's direction, "no, he's coming here. Which makes this whole thing worse, I hate the waiting."

Mikey hummed in response, "he won't be mad, c'mon Gee, its Frank we're talking about. He's the most carefree person I've ever met."

"But he's got an anger that could rifle fucking Aaron's."

"He's not going to be mad about this.

 

Gerard only hummed, burying his face back into his arms. Mikey sighed loudly.

0000000000000000000000000000

"Where the hell is Brendon? I'm about to fucking kick his ass when I find him, I swear to god."

Ryan was cursing his-fucking adorable and sexy at the same time, how???-friend. Dallon was on the couch, trying his hardest to get ahold of him.

"He's not answering his cell."

Ryan growled and Spencer, who was sitting on the couch opposite of Dallon and was also trying to get ahold of Brendon, looked up. 

"That growl was offensive towards all werewolves."

Ryan gave him a pointed glare and Spencer only shrugged, glaring down at his phone when it hit Brendon's voice mail. Dallon, on the other hand, was busy trying to get ahold of Josh and Tyler who went out with Brendon.

He threw his phone onto the couch cushion next to him, looking up at Ryan, "no use, they're not answering."

Ryan groaned in frustration, hands tugging at his hair, "why is Bden such and idiot sometimes?"

Ryan paused in his tracks when he heard the distinct sound of someone munching on cornflakes. He turned and, sure enough, Pete was standing next to him with a cereal bowl in his hands, milk dribbling down his chin.

"Gross."

Pete winked at him and sauntered over to the couch, floating a good inch off the cushion.

"Can't find your boyfriend?"

Both Ryan and Dallon blushed at that, Ryan frantically attempting to tell Pete off, "he's not-we're not-it's not like that!"

Pete seemed to ignore them all together, "uh-huh, anyways, have you tried his mom?"

Spencer spoke up, "she went to Vegas to see Brendon's brother for his birthday, remember?"

Pete furrowed his brows, "oh, yeah...have you tried Taco Bell?"

Ryan glared at his air head of a friend, "why on earth would we check there if they've been gone for three hours?"

"Well," Pete swallowed his bite of cereal, "he's with Tyler and Josh right?"

At everyone's nod he continued, "those insane fuckers really love Taco Bell, it only makes sense that they went there."

Ryan nodded at him, "okay, me and Spence can go check, Dal and Pete...you guys stay here in case they come back."

At that, the sound of the front door opening was heard from the main entrance and Ryan raced to the front. His jostled nerves calmed down the moment he saw Brendon with a bright smile on his face.

"You fucking idiot, where were you?"

Brendon looked mildly offended, "woah, what? How am I an idiot?"

Dallon appeared next to Ryan and folded his arms in a condescending mom type of way, "you had us worried because you didn't tell anyone where you were going."

Tyler scrunched up his nose, "I wasn't aware we had to inform you all of our every moves."

Josh elbowed his friend and gave him a pointed look, turning back to Dallon and Ryan.

"With this whole situation that's going on? Yeah, you do."

Brendon glared at them, "is that so? Then where's Patrick?"

Pete spoke up from his spot in the living room with Spencer, "he went to go meet Frank."

Ryan's eyes softened at Brendon's expression, "look, B, with everything going on you just had us worried-"

"I get it, really I do! Now that I'm gone you and Dallon just suddenly decide to acknowledge my existence again? Wanted to know where I was? Isn't that it?! You can't keep playing with me like that! I won't stand for it, George!"

The others stood silent as Ryan reeled back, seething.

"What the fuck did you just say? You know fucking better than to say that name Brendon, my father's name. And if you're so jealous of me being friends with Dallon, trying to make you happy to see us all together, then I don't think you're as invested in this friendship as I am."

Hurt flashed across Brendon's features and he made to move forward, but Ryan turned away.

"Fine," Brendon murmured, "if that's how you want it to be, then fine..."

Ryan turned on his heels and moved out of the entryway, Dallon following suit. Brendon choked back a sob and sulked into the living room, curling up into a ball next to Spencer. The werewolf began gently carding his fingers through Brendon's hair and Tyler and Josh moved into the kitchen, tension high in the air.

Pete cleared his throat, "so I'll take it that that didn't end well?"

Brendon shot Pete a glare and the ghost held his hands up in mock surrender. The front door gently clicked close and Spencer looked towards the entryway, sniffing the air, "Patrick and Frank are back."

Frank appeared first, looking around, "where's Gerard and Mikey?"

Pete jerked his head towards the back and Frank nodded in thanks. Patrick sighed heavily and flung himself onto the couch, shoulder to shoulder with Pete.

"Frank needs to speak with Gerard and Mikey first and then we can get this show on the road, the date that Mikey said is tomorrow, we need to head out in the jeep tonight judging from how far away the abandoned amusement park is..."

Pete nodded and Patrick furrowed his brows at the curled up form of his friend, "what happened here? Did I miss something...?"

Pete shook his head, "I'll tell you later, okay?"

Frank appeared again after a while with Gerard attacked to his hip and Mikey trailing behind. Not long after, Tyler and Josh appeared along with Ryan and Dallon who noticeably kept a far distance between themselves and Brendon. Patrick noticed the absolute hurt on his best friend's face and he frowned.

"Listen up cunts, we have one fucking chance according to Mikey and that asshole guy who gave Mikey the date."

Mikey rolled his eyes and Frank continued, "the theme park is a fucking maze, I swear to god. Aaron has been hiding out there, getting stronger. It has been the perfect place for him to hide the demons. They are ruthless and cunning and won't hesitate to attack. Be careful. We will all be in pairs of twos, since they take the weakest link first.

"Pete and Spencer you're a pair. Tyler go with Patrick...Josh you take Mikey and Dallon you're with Ryan. Brendon you're with me and Gerard. I have sections for each of you to split up and check first. Patrick and Tyler go towards the Ferris Wheel, that's where Aaron is suspected to be. Pete and Spence, you have the funhouses, clear out the demons. Josh and Mikey take the rollercoasters, those fuckers are tricky when need be. Dallon and Rye, you clear a path for us to make it to the Ferris wheel when Spencer and Patrick give us the go ahead.

"As for Brendon, Gee, and I, we'll search for and get Joe and Andy back. These guys are tricky and once Aaron is dead, the demons will fuck off somewhere in Hell since their source of power is gone. Any questions?"

No one spoke up and Frank smiled a toothy grin, "great! Tyler and I'll get the hunting weapons ready, the rest pack the car and...say your goodbyes now? I have a feeling some of us might not make it back. We leave tonight, we'll make it there by the morning, giving us time to get our shit together before we head out at night. Clear?"

Pete mumbled next to Patrick a half hearted, "crystal."

Gerard smiled, showing off his pearly vampiric fangs, "great! Let's go fuck up some demons, no offense Frank."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come join me on tumblr!!! www.fitznoodle.tumblr.com (or just look for fitznoodle in the thing thang)


	15. "Scooby Doo, the reprise" feat. Brendon, Gerard, and Frank

The amusement park stretched out before them. Frank drifted inside, graceful and careful. A second later, bright lights flashed in Brendon's vision and he grimaced, Frank had turned on the power. Brendon narrowed his eyes, looked to the left and noticed a broken and rusted sign that read 'Moar Park, Where Happiness Awaits!'  
Happiness? Yeah no, this place made Brendon want to run to Vegas and curl up in his Mother's arms. Sadly, he couldn't do that because no one could run that far for that long. Also, he has a job to do in the form of murdering demons. Was it murdering? They're already dead...does it even count then? He made a move to turn and ask Ryan before he felt a physical pang in his heart and remembered that they weren't on very good terms at the moment.  
They fought over Brendon going out, like one of the most stupid things ever. Brendon himself was still a little pissed at that fact, but he missed the constant contact with Ryan and Dallon. God, he wanted to talk to them. He couldn't though, because they have yet to apologize and he also picked up on a trait from Patrick; stubbornness.  
Brendon startled when a cold hand touched his shoulder and he looked over to the pale and yet beautiful face of Gerard.

"We'll head over to the center of the park and you can perform the locating spell."

Brendon nodded, stepping forwards into the park. He watched as Tyler lined the entrance with salt and Brendon raised a brow.

Tyler looked at him, "it's so that they can't leave. They basically have to get killed by us."

Frank huffed, "it's also so I can't leave, so you fuckers better break that line on the way out of here."

They all let out some form of a dry chuckle and Patrick gave Brendon a brief hug, "see you soon?"

"Yeah."

The rest of the group split off into different directions and Brendon stayed put with Gerard and Frank.  
Brendon followed Frank and Gerard into the park, confusion spreading over him, "where are they?"

Gerard looked back, "they're watching, waiting...I can fucking feel their eyes on us."

Brendon nodded and bit his lip. He was still shaken up from performing the protection spell on everyone in the car. 'Too much too fast could kill you', that's what his Mother told him before she left. Somehow, Brendon believed she knew what was going on in the town.  
Brendon tensed and the hair on the back of his neck stood up as a loud and wet growl sounded from behind him. He turned around fast and almost screamed at the twitching and convulsing shadowed thing crawling towards him on the ground.  
He swung the bat with nails attached to the end at the demon's head, resulting in half of its head to fly off. The texture looked like fucking rock and black liquid oozed out of what Brendon presumed was the mouth. What alarmed him more was that it was still crawling towards him.  
He swung again, and again, and again, tearing off limbs and other parts of the demon's body. Brendon opened his eyes and winced at the sight.

"Fucking gross."

Frank snorted, "yeah, maybe you should just stick to your magic? You can use it for defense you know. Andy does it all the time in situations like these."

Brendon furrowed his brows, tossing the cracked and nearly broken bat off to the side, "you could've told me that before we were in this creepy place..."

He willed his hands to glow with his golden magic, purity shining through. He heard Gerard chuckle and he huffed, glowing brighter.

"There should be a giant plaza looking thing...that's the center..."

Brendon turned to his left and noticed that there was a little ice cream stand next to a large shelf of maps. He raised his brows and walked over to the maps, grabbing one and checking the stand to see if there was any ice cream. He huffed when he saw how deserted it was and almost dropped the map at the sight of a disgustingly formed demon huddled up under the counter. Brendon was close to gagging at the black liquid pouring from every hole in its body.   
He conjured up his magic again and blasted it with a beam of gold. Brendon watched as it shriveled up and died and he ignored the dizzy feeling that came with using his magic. He shook his head and walked back over to where Gerard and Frank were discussing where to go and Brendon threw the map at Frank's face, shivering from the memory of the demonic creature.

"I got a map, so just check our surroundings and find out where we are."

Gerard raised a perfectly arched brow at him, "you okay Bren?"

"I'm mildly disgusted by Frank's species but other than that I would say I'm just peachy."

Frank looked up from the map and rolled his eyes, "I'm only half related to them, that's why I'm so good looking."

Gerard snorted, "yeah, sure you are."

Frank playfully hit the taller vampire on the head with the map and Brendon smiled, but he couldn't help the pang in his heart at their playful banter. He bit his lip and looked down at his shoes. He really fucking missed messing around with Ryan and Dallon, and he missed their weird little three-way hugs that must've looked awkward but their bodies fit together so perfectly it was like a missing jigsaw piece. They just clicked together and everything anyone did was always with the rest of them. They just worked.  
Brendon took a shakey breath and squeezed his eyes shut. He really hopes that he can make it out of here alive so that he can apologize for everything, except it wasn't really his fault. He refuses to say anything because of his dumb pride. Sometimes Brendon wishes he was as level headed as Spencer. God, he could really use Spencer's comforting words right now. He hated the feeling of being unwanted and he hated being hated. Even if he did work up enough courage to apologize, Ryan would probably just spit in his face.  
He thinks that the worst punishment ever is trying to hold onto someone who clearly doesn't want you anymore.

"Brendon? Hey, you in there buddy?"

Brendon snapped his head up to the worried face of Gerard and noticed warm liquid freely flowing from his cheeks. Shit, he didn't even realize he was crying.

He began to furiously wipe at his face, "y-yeah, I'm here."

Gerard bit his lip but continued, "Frank found out where to go, the plaza is just ahead behind these shops...are you sure you're okay?"

Brendon nodded, "yeah, fine. Let's get a move on."

Brendon trailed behind them, watching as Gerard was tucked into Frank's side. They walked slower for him, noticing how he scuffed his converse into the ground. Brendon huffed, looking down at his shoes. He hadn't noticed that they had stopped until he bumped into Frank's back.  
Frank stepped forward and got out a small black book, the spell book that Patrick found. He turned and tossed it at Brendon who fumbled before catching it. Frank smirked and stood in the center of a square shaped plaza with decorative tiles in the center.

"Gerard you keep watch, Brendon open that book to page 347."

Brendon furrowed his brows but did as told, scanning his eyes over the spell that was written in Latin.

Gerard leaned over his shoulder and whispered, "hunting spell..."

Brendon snapped his head up and Gerard looked startled before hurriedly standing off to the side, keeping watch. Brendon glared at Frank.

"A hunting spell? Really? That's so fucking illegal for me to do! I don't mess with black magic, Frank!"

Frank rolled his eyes and snapped, "right now you have to or we're all fucked. You gonna let your good little momma's boy reputation get in the way of that? Huh? Gonna go beg Ryan for mercy and ask to go home just because you can't grow a pair and man up?"

Brendon felt like Frank physically slapped him across the face. He reared back and was about to retaliate when Gerard growled out a clipped, "Frank! Stop that!"

Frank furrowed his brows at Gerard before sighing at Brendon, "do the fucking spell Urie."

Brendon stuck up his nose, "no."

Frank started approaching him angrily, "for fuck's sake, Bren-!"

Gerard stood in front of Brendon protectively, "Frank, stop."

"Move out of the way Gerard so I can fucking rip his throat out with my fucking teeth."

"Frank, back off."

Brendon was standing at just the right angle so that he could see Frank bear his teeth and razor sharp fangs extend out. They were longer than Gerard's simple two ones and Frank's eyes turned pitch black. Brendon clenched his fist, golden magic appearing at his fingertips in self defense.

"Frankie, what the fuck?"

Something seemed to have clicked in Gerard's brain because the next thing Brendon knows is that the vampire is no longer crouched in a defensive stance and his fangs are being retracted, eyes no longer red. Instead, he seems cautious yet grateful.

"Shit, Frank...you in there? Look, you need to snap out of it, this place is luring your demon side. C'mon Frankie."

Brendon heard a scream and whipped his head to the right, seeing multiple malformed demons drag themselves over to the Scooby Doo ride a little ways away. Brendon raised his brows, they for sure weren't going there anytime soon.

"Gee?"

Brendon turned to see a disoriented Frank making his way towards Gerard who smiled wide and hugged him.

"Brendon! Can you do something to help with the demons trying to control him?"

Brendon flipped through the book, not recognizing most of the words written, "uh, I don't think so...this is a useless book..."

Frank groaned, "the other language of the witch's tongue will come to you as you learn to advance as a witch, Andy once told me that...sorry for yelling and bringing up Ry-"

Brendon interrupted him, "no, no...I get it, demons were trying to control you. It's fine, everyone is forgiven."

He continued to flip through the pages until he found the one that Frank had told him to turn to. He smiled and closed his eyes, relaxing. He harnessed energy from the Earth, relishing in the warm glow of magic flowing freely over his body. When he opened his eyes, they were gold and he began to mechanically chant the words on the pages.   
He finished with a cry and noticed how a shimmering gold arrow appeared in his vision. He followed the streak until his vision started to see through the walls, furrowing his brows at the sign that read "Scooby Doo Ghost Hunting!"

He snapped out of his trance and felt a weird rushing sensation in his veins and black spots flitted in his vision. He quickly wiped the blood that was dripping from his nose and looked over at Gerard, promptly stating, "fuck."

Frank hurried over to a crouched over Brendon, "what? Where are they?"

"Fucking Scooby Doo ride that's housing so many god damn demons, holy shit."

Gerard hummed, "this way then?"

Brendon looked up and shook his head, "nope, right."

Frank put a hand on Brendon's back, "c'mon, let's go. We work until we get a call from Patrick or Spencer. We don't have that much time to get Andy and Joe out of here."

"Fine, but we're gonna totally die in there."

Frank winked, "I'm already dead."

Brendon groaned and followed the other two through the twisting buildings and rides, stopping at a road with a trolley tipped over. Brendon raised a brow and began to walk over there when a grunt of rage was heard from his left and he turned to see a demon get thrown to the ground.

"What the fuck?"

Frank started walking ahead again, "come on, someone's clearing the demons, let's hurry to the ride."

Before they even went inside Brendon noticed how much black liquid was splattered all across the outside of the ride, oozing from every crack. It was one of those shooting game rides that have a cart taking you through it. Which was scarier on Brendon's opinion because imagine how many demons are in there? With that much black shit coming from everywhere he can only say about seventy or so.  
They're goners for sure. 

"Wait," he put a hand on Frank shoulder, "we can't go in there without clearing the demons out a little. Luring them out."

"Why not?"

"There's a shit ton of them here, we go in without clearing, we're fucked."

Frank opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a grunt and a guttural warrior cry. Gerard tilted his head and Frank had a look of confusion on his face. Brendon turned his head to the source of the yelling, hearing familiar voices through the cries, "is that Ryan and Dallon? What the fuck are they doing over here?"

Gerard looked to the right and hummed, "the Ferris wheel must be over there, they're clearing a path. They were the ones fighting the demons while we were on our way here..."

Frank cracked his knuckles, "I think we can stray off plan for a minute here, they need to help us get the demons away from this Scooby Doo ride."

Brendon's face paled, "oh god, please no, anybody but them."

"Too late."

Gerard was already sprinting towards them. Brendon watched from afar as the vampire talked to them with a serious expression on his face, waiting until the other two nodded. Gerard looked pleased as he brought them back over. Brendon mentally kicked the vampire in the teeth over and over again. Damn him.

"Frank, Ryan and Dallon can distract the demons for us and we can run inside, start up the ride and hop in a cart unnoticed. The ride will alert the demons lurking inside and we'd have to fight them whilst on the ride."

Frank nodded and turned to Brendon, "Bren, do you know exactly where Andy and Joe are?"

Brendon bit his lip and willed up his magic again, concentrating on the golden streak leading him into the ride, "uh, yeah...a maintenance area."

The demon grinned, "good, we'll hop off once we get there and get the other two." 

Frank looked at Ryan and Dallon, "we'll be hiding near the entrance. Start getting rid of as many of these fuckers as you can."

Gerard and Frank began walking off towards a small hole near the entrance and Brendon bit his lip, turning to Ryan.

"Rye, look I-"

Ryan seemed to not be in the mood for Brendon and his meaningless words because he snapped out a short, "save it."

Brendon had never felt the urge to cry so much before. Instead, he nodded and pitifully walked away to where Gee and Frank were hiding. He crouched down and a cold hand was placed on his forehead. 

"I knew it. I could sense it and I could hear your heart rate slowing when you performed the spell."

Brendon furrowed his brows, "what?"

"Save your energy, too much magic in too little of a time can seriously harm you. You need to recharge, basically."

Brendon rolled his eyes, "yeah, whatever. Let's just get this show on the road."

Gerard looked like he was going to say something else but Frank shushed them, "it's working."

Black liquid was oozing from every crack in the walls, forming into shadowed and dripping demons. They were all advancing towards Ryan and Dallon who looked like they could take them all. Especially with Dallon and his dumb bottles of holy water.  
When they were far enough away from the ride, Frank began to gently tug on Brendon's arm and Brendon looked passed him to see Gerard holding open the door to the ride. Brendon stood up fast and scurried over, entering into darkness.

"Brendon, can you do something about the lights?"

Brendon remembered what Gerard said but shook his head, "yeah, sure."

"Brendon I don't-"

"I'm fine."

With that, Brendon conjured up his magic yet again and ignored the rushing in his head, the horrible sick feeling. When he opened his eyes again, the room was well lit and Gerard was stalking over to the control panel, turning on the ride. It creaked and groaned but the carts moved nevertheless. It was medium paced until Gerard turned up the speed, looking at them expectingly.

Frank looked at Brendon, "you ready?"

Brendon heaved a breath and sighed wearily, "let's do this."

Frank winked at him and hopped over the bars, Brendon doing the same. Gerard was next to them as they waited for the next cart to come. They quickly hopped into one, Gerard in the back and Brendon and Frank in the front.

"Where are they?"

"I remember the spell leading me to the third maintenance hatch...somewhere near the bedroom ghost scene..."

Frank nodded and Gerard turned to them, "guys?! We have a couple of them coming towards us from the back-shit! They're fucking fast! Frankie?!"

Frank turned to Brendon, "can you take care of that?"

Brendon nodded reluctantly, "I can try."

He quickly climbed over the seat and into the back with Gerard who gave him a disapproving look, "don't do that Bren, you'll hurt yourself."

Brendon cracked his knuckles, already in the process of using his gold magic, "better than dying."

He sent a spell of major damage and harming towards the demons and they retreated, some dying and some cowarding away. Brendon turned back and began to hit the other demons coming from different areas of the ride. Frank was trying to shoot them from the front and Gerard was keeping watch on others.  
Brendon felt a major headache come on but he kept attacking the demons, keeping them at bay. Frank had his fangs extended again and his eyes were back to a dark obsidian. Brendon watched as black crept onto his skin. His finger tips were coated but it faded at his wrists. It was dark near his eyes as well, fading out onto his cheeks. Brendon felt the power radiate from his friend and never had he felt more relieved to be sitting in the back with Gerard.

"That's the hatch!"

Brendon looked over and saw it up ahead, the metal door gleaming in the black lights. 

"We gotta hop out!"

Brendon panicked, "they're too close! They'll catch us!"

There was a pause and the hatch grew closer. Frank finally spoke up, "I'll go first and open the door, they won't be as attracted to me as they are to you guys. It's the demon blood, disguises everything."

Gerard looked at Frank, "be quick."

"Always."

Frank jumped over the side of the cart, wobbling a little at the change in momentum, and taking off in a sprint to the hatch. 

Gerard turned to Brendon, "you go first, I'm faster so I'll be able to get away quicker."

Brendon nodded and steadied his arms against the side of the cart, throwing his legs over and gracefully landing on his feet, stumbling, then taking off running. He looked behind him to see Gerard running in a blur, throwing the other demons out of his way. Not for the first time, Brendon was amazed by his vampire strength.

Frank was only a couple yards in front of them, holding open the hatch, "hurry! More are coming!"

Brendon squeaked and sped up his pace. The demons were gaining on him. Brendon felt panic rise up in his chest as a pair of cold arms grabbed him around the middle. He squeezed his eyes shut before opening them to a familiar face.

"Gerard?"

Gerard winked at him and skidded to a stop in front of Frank, setting Brendon down. Brendon's head swirled and he stumbled, almost losing his balance. He threw himself down the hatch, tripping and landing flat on his ass. Gerard came down after him and Frank was last, securing it after shutting.  
The underground tunnel area that had different electrical switches lining the walls was well lit up and Brendon thanked his lucky stars that he wouldn't have to use his magic for light.

Frank's boots crunched on the gravel and he hauled Brendon off the ground, "where to?"

Brendon ignored the weak sensation in his bones as he used his magic, following the gold strip in his line of sight, "there's a door up ahead. They're in there and...it's not guarded?"

A huff from Gerard, "sounds like a trap."

Frank scuffed his shoes and walked down the hallway, searching doors, "if it's a trap, then we walk right into it. Which door, Bren?"

Brendon felt bile rise up in his throat, "t-the one on your left...?"

Frank looked back at him, "are you okay? We can stop and rest for a while if-"

"I'm fine."

Gerard glanced at him too, "are you sure because-"

Brendon growled, "I'm. Fine."

Gerard moved ahead and went to the black door that Brendon pointed out and Frank turned to it as well. Brendon shuffled his feet to the door, body feeling like lead.

"Open it."

The door creaked open and Brendon saw a glimpse of afro and tattoos.

A grin spread across Frank's face, "y'know...for being a psychic and all, Joe, I would think that you would have been able to prevent being captured."

Joe turned around, "good, you're here just in time."

The one with sunglasses appeared and stalked towards them. Frank looked at him, "what's wrong? Andy?"

Joe spoke up, "we have to be quick. Andy performed a spell while we were in here, it expires in two minutes."

Gerard looked between the duo, "what was the spell?"

Andy moved passed Frank and out into the hall, Joe following, "tempore, densatis."

Brendon's brain immediately deciphered the words, "time frozen? What did you freeze?"

Andy cracked a smile, "I thought you were a witch. Good, I'm going to need your help to seal this place up after we leave."

Joe seemed to answer for him, "he froze the demons and we have approximately one minute and thirty-eight seconds until they're unfrozen."

Brendon stood still until Frank broke him out of his trance, "then we should probably start running?"

With a nod, Joe started sprinting down the halls, Andy running after him and quickly gaining the lead. Gerard and Frank easily kept pace with Andy and Brendon stayed a little behind Joe, still not fully recovered from the spells.   
Andy led them down twisted pathways and towards a door that read, "maintenance exit." They opened the door and sprinted up the stairs, a loud rumbling sound followed by squelching sounded behind them and Brendon almost screamed.

"What was that?!"

Andy called from the front, "the spell wore off!!! Hurry!"

They all raced up the rest of the stairs and out a door with a glowing sign that read "exit." Brendon barely had enough time to catch his breath and stop his head from swimming before Frank was holding the door closed and people were yelling at him.

"You know basic spells right?"

Brendon groaned but nodded nevertheless.

Andy furrowed his brows, "do you know the sealing one?"

His mother has taught him that one while she had sealed up the window after Josh had been murdered by the demon. 

"Yes. Et oblinito fatum."

"Good. Help me seal the ride, I can't cover this much space on my own."

Brendon thought about what his mother had said "too much too fast can kill you." He really had no choice in this, did he? He straightened up and sighed, smiling kindly at Andy, "I can try."

He walked over to the ride and held his hands up, waiting for Andy's signal. They began chanting together, the words swirling around their tongues. Brendon felt warm but after a while, weak. He pushed through the dizziness and fatigue, not noticing that his nose was bleeding until the warm droplets dropped onto his shirt. He furrowed his brows, voice growing clipped and words strained. He was light headed and every bone in his body felt liquified, as though his skin was lead but everything was just blood.  
They finished off the chant together and Brendon saw Frank let go of the door as a warm glow settled on the ride. Banging was heard from inside but they just ignored it.

"Great, now lets go fine Ryan and Dallon and-"

The words were growing muffled to Brendon and he felt bile rise up in his throat, eyes blurring. He stumbled a little before his legs gave out from under him. He could barely make out the worried faces of his friends before blood started spewing from his mouth, he coughed a little, trying to inhale but instead ended up choking on his own blood. Black spots crept into his vision and he could no longer see. His hands grew tingly and numb, followed by his feet. There was a pounding in his head and a rushing in his ears.

The last thing he saw was a flash of light before he sunk into the darkness.


	16. Sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes the author is the mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holy cannoli! I know it's been like a fucking month since I last updated but I was in California for a while and I'm going back in three weeks! This should be done before then so that's good, right? Also yeah...I updated the tags but don't worry, everyone is a ghost in the story by now, right?

Pete knew all of three things from where he was positioned. One, Spencer's eye keeps twitching like he's going to throw Pete out a window. Two, demons are a bitch to kill when he's constantly flickering from a solid form to a transparent one thanks to him turning human. And three, he's fairly certain that he just heard Ryan scream out Brendon's name in fear.  
He looked over to Spencer who had a neutral expression on his face but Pete could see the underlying worry. The werewolf just shook his head, "not now."

Pete bit his lip but nodded nonetheless. They were standing in front of a giant funhouse, blood stains and smears lined the wall along with rusty and old equipment. Pete shivered and cracked his neck, hovering a good two inches off the ground. A scratching sound came from inside and the spirit pushed back the bubbling fear, looking Spencer in the eyes. The werewolf smiled warily and nodded, trudging up the steps and busting open the rusty lock on the door.  
The door creaked open loudly and Pete grunted. He rushed to help Spencer open it the rest of the way but the man shook his head and held the door for him. Pete scoffed and went inside, being swallowed by overwhelming darkness and whispers. Immediately, he turned on his flashlight, hearing hisses and angry scuttling. With a comical expression on his face, he turned towards Spencer who snorted at him.

"C'mon, we gotta torch this place in all of its weak spots and trap the demons inside so that they can't escape."

"Is that our only option?"

Spencer pulled out the small gasoline tank from his bag along with a lighter, glaring at Pete, "it's our best option."

Pete took a deep breath and started to bounce on the balls of his feet, mentally 'preparing' himself. Spencer gave him an odd look before coating one of the most unstable parts in a heavy amount of gasoline, looking back at Pete, "point the light over here, quickly."

Pete did as told, flinching at the sight of a malformed demon hurrying away from the beam.

"What's its problem?"

Spencer stopped pouring and made a gesture with his head, telling Pete to go on ahead.

"They probably haven't seen a single ray of light in a while."

Pete grunted and stumbled when Spencer threw another small bottle of gasoline at him, fumbling to catch it, "we'll split up and regroup at the exit, okay?"

Pete nodded and watched as Spencer walked to the left of the funhouse, the ride part. Pete huffed and turned right, groaning in annoyance at the sign that read, "house of mirrors."

"You've gotta be shitting me."

_________________________________________

Brendon was vaguely aware of coughing up an alarming amount of blood as he came to. He spit a couple of times before turning his blurry gaze up at the sight of Ryan leaning over him - or what he assumed was Ryan, where were his glasses?

"Glasses...?"

A hand was in front of his face and Brendon assumed it was Dallon. He gratefully grabbed the glasses, smashing them on his face with shaking hands, and looked up to a worried Ryan.

"What-?"

Gerard spoke up loudly, "You overexerted yourself. Andy had to revive you. Be lucky that you're alive."

Brendon glared at the vampire and hands were at his face, pulling his head into someone's chest.

"You're a fucking asshole, you know that? You piece of shit, you're so lucky that you're alive right now, I would've peed on your grave."

Brendon let loose a dry chuckle and attempted to pull away from Ryan, "can't breathe, Ryro."

"Be lucky that you can," Dallon was a looming figure standing above him and Brendon flashed him a smile, "so are we okay again?"

"We're definitely going to need to talk about some things...but yeah, for now"

"Great, because I was missing your giraffe hugs and Ryan's constant fussing."

Ryan squawked indignantly, "I do not fuss!"

Dallon gave him a look and Ryan went off on him, Brendon laughing, wincing at the pain in his lungs.

"That's gonna be a while to heal."

He looked over at Joe, noticing the frown on his face, "what's wrong?"

"I-I don't-the future keeps changing. It's weird...at first they were supposed to die and then you but now... I can't see clearly anymore."

Brendon opened his mouth to answer, ask what he was seeing and who was dying, when an alarm went off somewhere deep in the Amusement Park and Joe flinched , "what-?"

It sounded broken and it caused shivers to go down Brendon's spine. He clenched his hands into a fist and caught sight of Frank pacing, ignoring the sound of screeching.

"The fucking roller coasters...that's where Mikey is..."

Brendon's eyes went wide, "is that where it's coming from? Josh is-!"

"Brendon," Frank snarled, "shut it, I'm trying to think."

Brendon closed his mouth fast, looking at Gerard. If his face was anything to go by, then the alarm was coming from the ride area.

"How do we stop it?"

Frank turned on Dallon, eyes black and teeth sharp, "we don't. It was triggered by them turning on the rides without the keys-fuck!"

Brendon stepped forward hurriedly, stopping when Joe's hand reached out to stop him. He looked back at him questionably, but the psychic only shook his head.

"Frankie? What's-?"

"That fucking alarm needs-"

Frank cut himself off with a scream of agony and Andy reached forward, grabbing the demon's shoulders.

Brendon turned to Joe, "what's going on?"

Gerard answered instead, "the alarm...this place was messing with him as soon as we stepped in, it was taking all of his willpower to stop himself and that fucking alarm-"

Andy cut in, "he won't be able to hold himself together for long. You need to take him back. Can you deal with the alarm once he's calm, Gerard?"

The vampire bit his lip but nodded nonetheless, hoisting Frank up and putting an arm around the demon's waist, helping him stand.

"How are-?"

"We'll go over near the funhouse area, it's a longer way to the Ferris Wheel but we'll make it in time. That alarm managed to upset a shit ton of demons, there's no way we're gonna make it by easily."

Joe swallowed hard and looked over at the demon, "don't come back here until the alarm is off. We can't afford to have someone with as much power as you forced on the other side."

Frank lazily nodded his head, wincing in pain, "you know how to stop Aaron. They're relying on you."

Joe hesitated before nodding, grabbing Andy's arm and turning quick. Brendon furrowed his brows in confusion before Frank suddenly lurched forward, black liquid oozing out of his mouth as he desperately fought for control of his body. Brendon grimaced in disgust, jealous of Joe for being able to know to look away.   
Gerard looked scared and Brendon felt a surge of fright as well, knowing that the vampire was usually fearless. 

Brendon turned back to Joe as Gerard hobbled, with Frank on his shoulder, to the exit.

"Brendon,"

He looked at Andy, "make sure that Patrick stays safe, okay?"

"...why...?"

Joe let out a dry chuckle and ran his fingers through his curly hair, "because he's the one with the demon marking, and if that was what fucked Frank up, then we might have a problem."

_____________________________________________

Pete was running away from like, ten different demons and had blood oozing from his temple. Which, come on? The one fucking time he decided to have human qualities - such as pain - had to be now? He scowled and made a sharp left, pulling down a beam as an attempt to slow down the demons. Instead, they opted to climb along the wall, emitting a scream from Pete.

"You fucks!"

One fucking hissed at him and sped up its crawling, making Pete whip his head back to the front to focus on running. He barley had time to dodge a falling beam from the sealing, rolling out of the way.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck! Spencer! Time to go!"

There was rustling from behind him and Pete threw the empty gasoline can at one of the demons, cheering as it hit the fucker in the head, sending it flying backwards.

"Pete: one, demons: zero."

Pete scrambled up and started running again, hoping to God Spencer got the message and made it out. He pulled out his lighter and flicked it open, throwing it behind him at a trail of gas near the exit. Immediately, it lit up in flames, spreading like wild fire.  
Sprinting to the only exit, he looked behind him, startling at the fact that the trail of fire was leading straight towards the fuel tank for the ride.

"Oh, fuck."

He turned around and dashed out of the way, flinging open the door and jumping onto the hard, concrete ground.

Groaning in pain, he looked up at the sight of Spencer standing above him, "good, I just finished sealing off the place...what's that look for? What did you do-?"

Spencer didn't get to finish his sentence. The door blew off it's hinges and landed right next to Pete, startling him. He got up and grabbed the werewolf, running a good couple of meters away.   
The ground rumbled as the funhouse exploded, debris flying everywhere. They ducked behind a prize stand, covering their heads.

Pete peeked around the stand and laughed at the burning building, "those fuckers are dead, right?"

Spencer heaved a breath, "yeah."

"That's the last funhouse...."

Pete looked at Spencer and saw his eyes shine with something unfamiliar. The werewolf stood up and offered him a hand, a wary smile on his face.

"We should start heading to the Ferris wheel now."

Pete nodded after Spencer had already turned his back, "...yeah but-"

The crunching of gravel alerted his attention and he grabbed a plastic bottle from the bottle toss stand, readying to throw and hit his target. As soon as a body appeared in his sight, he chucked the plastic object at it, cheering as it hit the person in the face. They toppled backwards, feet flying upwards as their back hit the ground. It was pretty comical.

A couple more people entered his view and Pete made a move to grab more bottles when he realized who they were, "Joe? Andy?"

Joe snorted at the body on the ground and Ryan and Dallon came into view, "what the hell Pete! He's unconscious!"

Pete furrowed his brows and walked over to the body, noticing a pair of box framed glasses lying askew next to the head.

"Oh, it's Brendon."

Said teen blinked open his eyes and groaned in pain, hand going to touch the red welt on his abnormally large forehead.

"What-?"

"Pete hit you with a bottle."

Brendon glared at Pete, "you're a dick- wait, how are you bleeding, you're supposed to be dead as fuck."

Pete's eyes grew wide and he touched the side of his head, drawing back blood, "oh yeah, I forgot about that."

Andy was quick to come forward and inspect it, "you're turning human. That means that-"

Pete looked at Andy, eyes going wide with fear and stomach dropping to his shoes, "means what...?"

Joe spoke for him, voice solemn and tired, almost sad. He didn't sound like the usual bored tone.

"Someone's dead."  
_____________________________________________

Patrick wasn't sure what he expected. The Ferris Wheel was large, yeah. But how the fuck were they supposed to fight a god damn demon-controlling asshole on a moving wheel?  
Tyler started walking ahead of him, clutching a flashlight close to his chest. Patrick followed him, standing outside the control booth. He watched as Tyler put the flashlight in his mouth, trying to point at the controls.

Rolling his eyes, Patrick walked inside and took the light from between the hunter's teeth, "here, let me."

Tyler nodded at him before squinting at the labels on the control panel, furrowing his brows.

"None of these make sense...it's like the original labels were scratched to the point of ineligibility."

Patrick shrugged, a shiver wracking his spine as a cool breeze ruffled his clothes. It was the middle of summer, but the nights were fucking cold here. He looked up at the sky, noticing it turn darker by the minute. It must be passed sunset.

"Why don't you just start randomly pushing buttons until they do something."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure all of these do something, not sure what though."

Patrick bit his lip and stepped forward, handing Tyler the flashlight.

"Here, let me try something."

Tyler raised his brows and Patrick rolled up his cardigan sleeves, relaxing his shoulders. He watched as his hand glowed an electric blue, shining the light over the control panel. He saw something that caught his eye and chuckled, tucking his hand closer to himself and rolling down his sleeves.

"I guess we're pretty dumb, try the big green button."

Tyler pressed it warily, watching as the ride started moving. It creaked and groaned from years of not being used, rusty and old.

"This isn't stable."

"Whelp, I guess we gotta."

Tyler started running passed Patrick and the older teen blanked, "w-wait!"

The hunter jumped into a cart, wincing as it yelled in protest. He held out his hand as the cart moved forwards, starting to rise. Patrick had to jump to grab Tyler's hand. He used the leverage from the cart as Tyler pulled him up and into the safety of it. Although, it really wasn't that safe.

Patrick looked bellow and onto the ground as they rose, "aren't the others supposed to be heading over here now? How long has it been?"

Tyler hummed and checked his watch, "a little over two hours, wh-"

Patrick grimaced and clutched his head as a blaring, broken alarm rang out through the park, growing quieter but still there.

"What happened?!"

Patrick started leaning over the cart, trying to find out the source of the sound. Tyler's hands were at his waist, pulling him back as the cart wobbled. The part connecting it to the Ferris Wheel groaned and Patrick locked eyes with Tyler. He was fairly certain they were both donning the same expression, fear.

"No more of that, okay?"

Patrick nodded, "did that come from the Roller Coaster area? It's awfully close..."

Tyler huffed, "Josh better not be doing something dumb or I'll murder him...again."

Patrick held onto the sides of the cart as it swung back and forth at the top, coming to a complete stop where they were.

"What do we do now...? I mean, no one else is here and I guess we're kinda stuck until someone pushes that button at the bottom..."

Tyler shrugged, "we wait until one of the other nerds comes along or until Aaron decides to show his lazy ass."

After a couple minutes of silence, Tyler turned to Patrick, "you wanna play ISpy?"

"Fuck yeah."

_____________________________________________

Patrick was sick of ISpy. He used to be so good at this game when he was younger, but Tyler is like a fucking pro, what the fuck?

"Me and Josh used to play a whole lot whenever we were in my treehouse and didn't have video games to entertain us."

Patrick smiled, "you have a treehouse?"

"Well, had. I burned it down when I was a teenager."

"...okaaay?"

 

That was the last time they conversed, which was like, an hour ago. Now, Patrick really wants to bang his head against the cart until it drops them both to their deaths. He huffed, frowning down at the bright blue glow of his hand.

"What the...?"

"Patrick Stump."

Patrick must've jumped at least twelve feet in the air at the sound of the demonic voice.

He turned, but couldn't find the source. Tyler was also frowning.

"Aaron?"

Patrick leaned over the cart, noticing how his friends weren't even there yet.

"Come here, won't you?"

Patrick opened his mouth to yell at him, when his hand flowed blue and his mind went numb.

"What? Patrick, stop!"

He watched as Tyler made a move to stop him, but Patrick couldn't feel his body. Couldn't move his body. He didn't have control over himself anymore.

"That's it, get off the cart. I'm at the top."

He climbed out of the cart, cringing at the horrible pins and needles feeling in his entire body. He watched as his hands reached out and pulled himself over bar after bar, finally balancing at the top of the Ferris Wheel.

He sighed in relief as feeling came flooding back into his body. He clenched his fist just to make sure he could control it.

"Patrick,"

Patrick glared at the shadowed man, snarling. Aaron tutted at him, a slickly sweet smile on his face.

"Don't be that way, I have control over you, remember? All thanks to your dumb and naive demon friend for giving you that power."

Patrick's eyes widened, "you set him up didn't you?"

Aaron grew closer and he smiled as Patrick took a step back, "i wouldn't say that...just a bit of a threat. But you were all too blinded to realize the power until now."

"I'm going to send you back to hell, Aaron. Where all bullies like you belong."

"Don't!"

Patrick flinched at his raised tone and metallic screeching.

"Be that way. You see, I get to decide things from now on...like the fact that your friend is now climbing this wheel to come and save you. Would be a shame if he fell."

The ground rumbled and Patrick reached out to grab onto a metal beam, "Aaron stop!"

The shadow only smiled, letting out a cruel laugh, "the fun has only just begun, Patrick! Or what was it that Pete called you? Lunchbox...?"

Patrick grit his teeth, holding on tighter as the ground felt like it was splitting. He leaned over to look at the edge, eyes going wide as he saw that the ground really was separating.

"What are you playing at?"

Aaron laughed, "look again."

Patrick did, and held on tighter at the sight of lava.

"How...?"

"It's a mirage, but sometimes the brain gets so tricked that it believes what it's seeing is real. If you or Tyler fell, you'd hit the pavement and die immediately, but your brain would convince itself that you're being melted alive..."

Patrick glared at him.

"Fun, isn't it!"

"Patrick!"

 

Patrick whipped his head over to Tyler, "Tyler, here grab my-"

A kick to his stomach and Patrick was flying backwards, holding onto the metal bars so he wouldn't fall over.

He peered up just as Tyler pulled himself over the edge. The alarm seemed to have gotten louder, because that's all Patrick was hearing. Tyler seemed to have shouted something at Aaron, because the demon was reeling back and clutching his head. Patrick almost screamed when he realized he couldn't hear anything.  
Aaron must've took his hearing so he couldn't hear the words Tyler spoke to make the demon weak.

Tyler rushed over to him just as the Ferris Wheel tilted and groaned, flinging Patrick over the ledge, he grabbed onto a beam for support. Flashbacks of him hitting the pavement with Pete sported his vision and he shivered. Only difference now was that Pete wasn't here to save him. His hearing rushed back to him full force and he screamed at the overwhelmingly loud sensation.

"Patrick!"

Tyler was leaning over the ledge and reaching out to him, fear plastered on his face, "grab onto my hand!"

Patrick grunted as he let go of the beam with one hand, swinging to the left. He groaned as he reached up, fingers barely brushing Tyler's.

"Hold up, I'll try and get lower!"

Patrick's eyes went wide as the rusted metal groaned and threatened to break. He snatched his hand back fast, eyes screwing shut.

"Patrick, give me your hand!"

He looked up to see Tyler, worriedly looking down at him. He was crouched and reaching out, balancing precariously between two posts.

Patrick shook his head, "I-I can't, the thing is gonna snap!"

"Then act quickly! Give me your hand, I promise I won't drop you."

Patrick bit his lip.

"Please? For Pete?"

Patrick nodded, letting go again with one hand and reaching up, this time grabbing onto Tyler's arm. He smiled for a split second as the hunter began to pull him up.

Their happiness was short lived, however, as the beam snapped and gave way, making Patrick slip. In a split second, Tyler was pulling Patrick onto the beam, practically throwing him to safety.

 

Patrick turned quickly, holding on as he watched Tyler lose his grip and fall from the Ferris Wheel.

"Tyler!"

Patrick leaned over and tried to reach for him, missing by just an inch. He felt numb as he watched the mirage that Aaron built for them flicker for a split second and show Tyler laying flat on the pavement, a pool of blood surrounding him.   
The mirage came back, this time allowing Patrick to see the gruesome image of his friend burning and melting in molten hot lava. Screams filling his ears.

It took him a while to realize they were his own.

A strangled voice cut through his head right as Aaron gripped Patrick's shoulder tight and prepared to throw him across the tilting Ferris Wheel.

"Tyler?! No! No, no! OH GOD, TYLER!"

Josh had found his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...don't yell at me...we've had this coming for a while...we all knew it had to happen...I'm sorry
> 
>  
> 
> Syke


	17. In Which We All Knew Gerard Would Save The Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more left after this one guys! What a ride! (Here's an early update to make up for the fact that I haven't updated in a while...) also, thank you to everyone who's commented so far! I would love to respond to all of you but I felt that it would all just be repetitive, but anyways...I'm so happy to be able to see all the little things you've written after every chapter, they make my day! So without further ado, here's where shit goes down!

Pete felt like they arrived at the Ferris Wheel a tad bit too late. His face blanked as he watch Patrick get thrown across the top of it, struggling to grab ahold of something to keep himself on. Pete took about five seconds to take in the fact that Josh was screaming in agony over Tyler's dead body - his stomach dropping to his feet, Tyler was just a fucking kid - before he started sprinting as fast as his now human legs could handle.  
He jumped onto the rusted metal Ferris wheel, careful of its tilting and unstable parts. He started hastily climbing upwards, determined to reach Patrick.

"Fuck, oh fuck."

A beam snapped to his left and he had to jump upwards to avoid it. He hissed as sharp metal cut his palm.

"This human shit is fucking stupid."

It wasn't long before he reached the top, scrambling to hold onto something to lift himself up. He watched with fear as Aaron easily picked Patrick up and rag dolled him across the Wheel again. Pete started running across beams to reach Patrick, gasping as the medium fell a couple feet into a swinging and unstable cart.

"Patrick?!"

No response. From his angle, Pete saw blood trickling from the side of Patrick's face. The medium's eyes blinked open slowly and he squinted upwards, a worrying look on his face.

"Pete-!"

A blow to his neck and Pete was tumbling forward, landing on top of Patrick.

Patrick groaned before realization crossed over his features, "you're human?"

Patrick had a look of horror as he scrambled to stand, eyes flicking up to Aaron who was stalking them from his perch, "that means that Tyler really is...?"

A sigh escaped Pete's lips and he looked down at his feet, "...yeah."

Patrick made a move to come forward but stopped as the cart tilted abruptly and groaned, threatening to snap from its perch.

"Are you done?"

Pete's head snapped up to Aaron and he glared, "oh fuck off."

Aaron looked unimpressed and in one swift motion, the cart was tilting quickly, threatening to throw them. Pete and Patrick grabbed onto the bar at the top to keep from falling as Aaron made the cart flip upside down.

"I'll ask one more time, are you done?"

Pete glared but Patrick shook his head. 

"Yes," Pete bit out.

"Good, because I have something planned for both of you."

The cart swung back around and Pete fell from where he was hanging, landing hard onto the metal cart. He watched as Patrick let go of the beam and gracefully dropped down onto his feet. Patrick pulled Pete up, turning towards Aaron.

"What the fuck have you done."

Aaron started cackling, a horrible and retched sound that made Pete want to cover his ears and scream. His menacing eyes bore into Pete's every being as he spoke.

"I did what I had to. In this world it's kill or be killed, and I sure as fuck ain't going down now! And that?"

Pete watched as Patrick flinched back hard when Aaron pointed a curled finger at his demon markings.

"It's hardly a gift! Honestly! Jon worked with me forever and he killed Spencer's pack! You were that dumb to trust him?"

Patrick paled as Aaron continued, stalking them from his perch, "you have no chance! I can control you, Patrick! The only person who stood a chance against me is waiting outside of the fucking park, too weak to face a god damn alarm!"

Pete glared at Aaron, "you fucking planned this. You planned for the alarm to blare so that Frank couldn't face you!"

Realization crossed over Patrick's face and he growled, "you planned Tyler's death!"

Aaron furrowed his brows, "that was actually completely unexpected, but an advantage for me because who knew that dead fuck was able to speak such words! They made me weak! We couldn't have that!"

Pete slammed his fist against the door of the cart, "you cowardly piece of shit!"

"I'd hardly call myself cowardly! More like...resourceful."

Patrick scoffed and Aaron stalked closer, hands reaching down to the screws keeping the cart up, "now it's time for the real fun. Bon voyage!"

With a swift flick of his long fingers, the cart was creaking and snapping, breaking off the metal beam. Pete scrambled to grab ahold of Patrick, tucking him into his arm as he jumped off and grabbed a piece of the Ferris wheel. Hanging, he nudged Patrick and the other started to climb off him, reaching for his own beam. With his now free hand, Pete pulled himself up and watched the cart fall to the ground.  
What caught his eyes was the sight of their friends holding off demons that were advancing and attempting to climb the wheel. Patrick coughed next to him and Pete looked over worriedly, flinching as the alarm that was still blaring in the ride section abruptly shut off.

A distant shout was heard and Aaron was screaming, "that damned vampire!"

Pete chuckled, brushing himself off before reaching out to Patrick. Upon closer inspection, he saw the strawberry blond shaking with a concentrated expression on his face. He seemed conflicted...or in pain.

"Trick?...Lunchbox?"

Patrick looked at him, eyes glowing blue and hand outstretched.

Pete had three seconds to think before he was jumping off the beam and climbing upward, grimacing at the sound of tearing metal and Patrick shouting.

"Oh, fuck."

A beam of blue light shot passed him and Pete took the opportunity to look down. Patrick was baring his teeth at him, hand glowing blue.

Dodging another blast, Pete started climbing faster, "fuuuuckkkk."

He pulled himself up and started crawling around on the beams in the center of the Ferris Wheel, frantically scrambling out of the way of every blue beam of light thrown his way. He reached up and grabbed onto a swinging cart, attempting to pull himself up. As his leg swung around, he felt a tug before Patrick grabbed him and threw him across the wheel. Pete grunted in pain as his back hit a beam. He felt himself falling and quickly grabbed on, dropping down and landing precariously on two metal poles.  
He looked up just in time as Patrick jumped down, glaring at him. Pete dodged as another beam of blue light hit his right side, he wasn't so lucky when Patrick blasted him on his left. The light grazed his shoulder, but left a huge amount of pain in its wake.

"Fuck! Patrick, stop!"

Patrick didn't waver and kept advancing towards him, trying to hit him with blast after blast. Pete couldn't recall the amount of times he's been hit. He jumped over a metal part, grabbing onto a cart and pulling himself up, leaning against the seat and breathing heavily, holding his injured shoulder. He grunted in pain as his body was jostled. The Ferris Wheel was groaning and creaking and Pete looked over the side at the damage Patrick had done to it.  
At this rate, the whole thing will collapse.

The cart screamed in protest as a new weight was added to it. Pete lifted his head to the sight of Patrick's blazing eyes, hand outstretched with blue glowing from the tips.

A sob wracked Pete's sore body as blood leaked from his lips, "Patrick, please."

Patrick raised his hand, glaring menacingly at Pete.

"Tricky..."

With a shout, Patrick fired at Pete, aiming straight for his chest.

It was a split second decision. One moment Pete was on the ground and the next he was reaching up and unscrewing the already loose bolt on the ride, making it tilt and drop Patrick. Pete watched as the younger fell onto another cart bellow them, immediately knocking him out. Pete grimaced in sympathy, "that'll leave a bruise in the morning."

Leaning back, Pete spit out a glob of blood and took a rattling breath. 

Holding his shoulder, he shuffled over to the beam and began his long journey back up the Ferris Wheel.

 

_____________________________________________

Gerard had signed up for this, he should expect that everything horrible was bound to happen. He doesn't know why he even bothered to help in the first place. He was perfectly fine just staying out of it and tending to his brother and clan. Now though? Now he has a demon wrapped around his finger and five hundred more after his head.

Touching.

He was running, faster than normal, just to shut off a damned alarm. Heaven forbid that thing keep blaring. He rolled his eyes at the thought of Frank. That idiot just had to fucking forget about alarms. The one thing he falls to is the sound of an alarm. Normally, alarms are fine, but with heightened senses and the fact that demons are trying to take control over your demonic body? It kind of fucks everything up.  
The alarm rattled Gerard's own heightened senses and made him sick to his stomach, he couldn't imagine how Mikey was feeling. An image popped into Gerard's head and he slowed, coming to a halting stop.

{He watched himself in his head take Frank's one object he had told him not to touch, the night after they had met. Before leaving, he sported a smirk on his face and the intent on getting a call back.}

"The fucking stone, that's it."

Gerard reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a grey stone, glowing green around the intricate carving. He frowned down at it before shoving it back into his pocket and taking off at full speed in the direction of the alarm. He reached the rides in no time, pausing at the sight of Mikey laying unconscious on the ground in front of the Ferris Wheel.   
Demons were surrounding his body and Gerard growled, startling them. In the blink of an eye, they were all cowering under him. He smiled and approached Mikey's body, gently shaking him awake.

Mikey opened his eyes and gently shoved him off, brushing off his jacket and standing up, "what."

Rolling his eyes, Gerard looked into Mikey's, "I need you to turn off that alarm, okay? The key code is 786. You do that and Frank can get his lazy ass back in here and fuck up that demon sucking asshole."

"Fuck off."

Gerard blinked and Mikey was gone. He smiled at his brother's retreating form, turning back to the ride. Mikey was someone he could trust, and his brother was obviously on his way to shut it down. His eyes found the lifeless ones of Josh, his ghostly form glowing and transparent. Because of the transparency, Gerard was easily able to see what he was trying to protect with his body.  
It was Tyler's broken and bloody dead body. The breath hitched in Gerard's throat and he rushed over to them, getting down on his knees and holding Tyler's head.

"What happened?"

Josh shook his head, a sob wracking his throat, "I don't know..."

Gerard fucking hated having ties with people, especially with his sort of title. But Tyler was an exception. They were friends before both of their lives went to shit and Tyler may blame it all on Gerard, but Gee was the one to wipe his memories of the bad things. But the good things too. He made sure he left no trace, but he hated the idea of leaving it all behind.  
It was his conscience that made him leave Tyler be, and it was his humanity that left him.

Now, looking at the lifeless body he couldn't help but think that there was only one thing left to do.

"How long has he been dead?"

Josh shook his head, "I-I think around twenty minutes...?"

Gerard nodded his head, "as long as it hasn't been an hour."

Gerard bit his lip and looked at the younger pink haired teen, "Josh? I'm sorry I couldn't have been there to save you, but I know some pretty rad necromancers that could bring you back to life once all this is done. And I can explain to Tyler who I really am after this."

Josh screwed his nose up in confusion, "what?"

"I'm sorry...when he wakes up, I won't be there...but relay to him that I'm sorry as well, got it?"

Josh just watched him bring Tyler's body close, tilting his head to bare his neck, "wh-what're you gonna do?"

Gerard felt his sharp teeth extend and his eyes go red, he looked at Josh solemnly, "stay back."

Gerard lurched forward and sunk his teeth into the smooth flesh - a sickening pop resonated as the skin broke - his eyes rolling back in ecstasy. It had been too long since he had tasted human blood. It was so sweet and - he wanted more. Before he could take anything else from the teen in his arms, he forcibly extracted himself from Tyler's neck, licking up the spot he bit to seal the area. He pushed Tyler off his lap and into Josh's arms.

Gerard felt blood trickle from his mouth and against his will, his tongue darted out to catch it. He was aware of his teeth still being fangs and his eyes blaring red, but what alerted him was the distinct absence of an alarm. He smirked and wiped the blood from his mouth on his sleeve. He pointed a bloody finger at Josh.

"Stay here, the demons know better than to approach a fledgling. When Tyler wakes, try and calm him. He may have a bond with me but when you become human, he'll take his first real drink from you, binding both of you together. Therefore, he'll listen to you more."

Josh looked shocked, "how do you know he'll drink from me? Isn't-?"

Gerard rolled his eyes and pulled out the stone, rolling it over in his hands, "I'm a seer. If Frank shows up, tell him I'm finishing the job, alright?"

Gerard didn't wait for a response, he started running at full speed, refreshed from the blood in his veins. He came to a halt at the bottom just as Patrick fell and dropped onto another cart, going unconscious. He watched as Pete attempted to climb up before falling again.

"Idiot."

He avoided his (friends???) somewhat companions as he began climbing the wheel, intent on getting to Pete. He began jumping from beam to beam, annoyed at how long it was taking him to climb. He finally reached Pete's spot and glared at his injured shoulder and bloodied face, "you're human."

Pete gave him a glare as he attempted - yet again - to climb up, "and Tyler's dead."

"Eh, more like undead."

Pete turned and gaped at him, "you turned him? That's so wrong! Especially without his permission!"

Gerard scoffed, "excuse me? I had his permission when- never mind, look the good thing is that he's alive-"

Pete cut in, "mostly."

"-and that we're gonna fucking kick Aaron's ass. Now are you done? Because I sorta need your help."

Pete glared, yet again, in his direction, "I'm injured and can barley fucking climb, how do you expect me to help, Gerard?"

He thought about it for a second before pressing his wrist to his lips and biting down with his fangs, drawing blood, "here, drink this it'll heal you."

Pete took his wrist reluctantly before looking at him, "this won't like, make me like you because I just became human again and I kind of wanna savor it."

Gerard rolled his eyes, "no, you idiot. Just drink it, trust me."

Pete rolled his eyes, "you're kind of freaky with blood on your mouth," and he sucked on Gerard's wrist, face screwing up in disgust, "ugh, ew! What the fuck is in your blood?"

Gerard rolled his eyes, "at least it's not Frank's...I bit his neck once and he tasted like pure sulfur...never again."

Pete shivered in disgust, "yeah okay..."

Gerard heard the sound of crashing and yelling coming from above them and bit his lip, "how's your shoulder?"

Pete rolled it a couple of times before shrugging, "it's fine, let's go."

Gerard beamed and grabbed Pete around the waist, flipping him over his shoulder, "hang on!"

Gerard stared climbing and jumping from beam to beam, grunting as the Ferris Wheel began to tilt further and further. 

"This thing is not gonna hold on much longer!"

Pete, from his shoulder, called out, "do you even have a plan?!"

Gerard reached the top in no time, setting Pete down and facing the demonic form of Aaron, "kinda, but it's really stupid."

Pete gave him a look that made Gerard want to prove he's not dumb, before Aaron growled loudly and threw a piece of the wheel at Pete, making the man fly back and almost fall over, "for fuck's sake! Gerard! What do we do?!"

Gerard rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles, "wait for Frank."

Pete grunted and hauled himself back up, grabbing a broken piece of metal and using it as defense against the demon, "really? That's fucking stupid! I'm gonna die...again!"

Gerard ignored him, rushing towards Aaron. He dodged the man's fists and objects thrown his way. Aaron only seemed to be angrier by Gerard's actions, his shadowed figure growing taller and larger, looking almost god like.

Aaron growled, roaring loud and picking Pete up, throwing him down the Ferris Wheel. Gerard's eyes went wide, rushing over to the side. He felt a surge of reassurance at the sight of normal-not controlled-Patrick close to the edge and holding onto Pete. He must've been making his way up to help. 

Gerard turned around just in time as Aaron's now large fist picked him up and held him. Gerard writhed and squirmed as Aaron began tightening his fist, threatening to crush him. Gerard heard a pop as his ribs snapped. He let out a frantic scream, not being able to breathe.

A blurred movement slammed into Aaron, making him lose his grip on Gerard and control over his mirage, going back to his smaller form. Gerard fell to the ground with a grunt, breathing heavily and laying flat on his back as his ribs mended back into place. He looked over at the sight of a glaring Frank, anger and black shadows rolling off his skin in waves. Gerard smiled as he saw that Frank's teeth were sharp and bared, his eyes pitch black.

"Don't you ever fucking lay a hand on him."

His voice was strong and powerful and a surge of warmth spread through Gerard's body. He hopped onto his feet as Frank stood over Aaron.

"Frankie!"

Frank turned, black shadows swimming across his face.

"The stone! Drive it into his heart!"

Frank's eyes widened and he nodded, easily catching the stone when Gerard threw it to him. With one swift motion, he stabbed the thing straight into Aaron's heart, a beacon of green light erupting from his chest. There were screams down bellow and Gerard went to the edge to watch as the demons erupted in green light before disintegrating.   
Pete and Patrick were standing near the edge and Gerard watched as the demon markings faded from Patrick's hand, erasing themselves from the teen's body. He walked over to Frank and took his hand, huffing out a puff of hair.

The final cable holding onto the Ferris Wheel snapped with an audible crack, making Gerard freeze in his steps as Aaron's body convulsed, slowly disintegrating. The rusted metal ride started falling faster and Gerard's eyes went wide. He sped over and grabbed Patrick's waist, watching as Frank did the same to Pete, before jumping off the edge. He landed on the ground with a big thud, dropping Patrick and rolling out of the way, crashing into Frank.   
Frank groaned audibly before letting loose a small laugh, kissing Gerard's forehead, "glad you're okay."

Gerard grunted in response, watching as Pete crawled over to where Patrick was sprawled out on the ground, taking the younger up into a - from the looks of it - much needed hug. He smiled to himself, glancing at Josh, who had Tyler - now awake - in his arms and Spencer checking them over, pulling out a bottle of water.   
Brendon was scooped up into a group hug by Dallon and Ryan and Gerard stared after them for a minute, watching the trio have their own private conversation. Gerard was almost surprised when Ryan leaned down and gave Brendon a kiss on the cheek, Dallon smiling. Gerard rolled his eyes and shook his head, eyes meeting Mikey's.  
His younger brother started making his way over, throwing the alarm - that was no doubt ripped from the wall - at Gerard. Gerard snorted and Mikey dropped to his knees in front of him, pulling him into a hug.

"How are you feeling?"

Gerard scrunched his nose up, flinching at the sound of the fallen Ferris Wheel still groaning from snapping cables, "disappointed."

Mikey scoffed, "might I ask why?"

Gerard looked over at the happy couples and wrinkled his nose, wishing to be at home with Frank and Mikey and the promise of bossing around the guards to make them make him cookies, "it all just felt, I don't know...so..."

 

Gerard looked up at the smokey sky, thoughts of 'what now?' On his mind, "...anticlimactic."

 

Gerard closed his eyes and Mikey pushed him away, standing up. Frank took Mikey's place, carding his finger's through the vampire's hair.

"We gotta get outta here before the police show up...it was on the car radio about how there's been loud explosions and alarms blaring from the abandoned amusement park downtown..."

Gerard hummed, opening his eyes to the sound of shoes crunching on gravel. He looked over to see Joe and Andy standing above them.

Andy's hands were glowing, "if the police have found out then we've got to go...I have to seal this place and trap the demons inside, it'll take a while with this munch perimeter to cover."

Joe spoke up, "I can hear sirens."

Gerard groaned in annoyance, "me and Mikey will mind control the cops, perks of being vampires. You guys hurry up because I want to sit in front of a t.v. And watch 'It's Always Sunny' with my friends."

Pete perked up at that, "we're now your friends?"

Gerard grabbed the broken alarm and hurled it at Pete, "you aren't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is literally like an epilogue I guess...but after this lovely child of mine has reached its end, I'll have the first chapter of the GTA au one up! Stay cool during this summer guys, or just stay inside...you probably already do anyways.


	18. The end of all things really isn't the end of this thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, was this fun to write! I think this was one of the best things I've ever done and I'm kind of sad to see it go...which is why I have announcement at the bottom of the page! GTA au should be out tomorrow and here's all the people who have commented on this fic! You guys are all so very awesome! Thank you so much for leaving kudos and comments and just reading it in general! You kept me going!
> 
> Shout out to:
> 
> RADo7o3
> 
> EvieSaysHi
> 
> HatefulAssRaptorBandit
> 
> Bruhslur
> 
> saratza 
> 
> PikaxuGirl64
> 
> Anouk 
> 
> wrongsideofreality (slothlover42)
> 
> actualbrendonurie
> 
> Lindsey
> 
> Jesus fuck you guys are amazing

Patrick shouldered his bag, walking inside the large building of his high school. In all honesty, he wasn't sure he was even ready to start his last year here. After everything that went down, he felt like school was too much of his time wasted for little things. He huffed and turned down the longs hallway that held his locker, smiling slightly at the sight of Brendon casually leaning against it.

"Where are your boyfriends to wish you a good day?"

Brendon rolled his eyes and shoved Patrick playfully, "yeah, yeah...did you show Pete your dog yet?"

Patrick blanked and then snorted, "very funny...he told you about that?"

"Dude, you tell everyone when you first meet them about your dog. It's an unhealthy obsession."

Patrick smiled at him, opening his locker and putting things away for later, pulling out a cereal cup for Brendon. He closed the locker door and began walking over to the stairs, Bren happily skipping along next to him.

"Spencer started college yesterday, and guess what?"

Patrick looked at his schedule and then squinted at the numbers by the door, fishing out his glasses, "what?"

"He found a necromancer! Dude, Gee's been looking for one for months! Josh is gonna be so hyped."

Patrick hummed again and Brendon stopped in his tracks, grabbing the older's shoulder, "you're not listening to me."

Patrick swallowed, "I am totally listening."

Brendon raised a brow and sassily crossed his arms, "on really? Then-"

"Mr. Urie, Mr. Stump! You do not wish to be late and have detention on your first day, do you?"

Brendon clasped his hands behind his back and sweetly turned to face Ms. Martin, "no, ma'am...love that outfit by the way! Totally not tacky at all, don't know why the other kids keep saying it is."

She scowled and turned, "get to class boys."

Brendon glared at her back and Patrick giggled. Bren faced him and snorted, "she can bite me."

"I heard that, Urie!"

Patrick chuckled at the look on Brendon's face and tugged on his arm, pulling him in the direction of their first class.   
What happened over the summer wasn't exactly a kept hidden secret around Chicago. The police chalked it up to a terrorist attack and there was a huge investigation around it, but Frank had told them that it would all blow over and that if they needed him, they could contact Gerard.  
Frank had gone back to his weird fucking demon office he had somewhere near the coast and Gerard had stayed with Mikey to help out Tyler and introduce him to his new coven. Josh was waiting for a necromancer and Ryan and Dallon were now a thing with Brendon. (Thankfully Pete had payed him his money for winning the relationship bet with the Bren/Ryan/Dal trio.) It seemed as though everything was fine, dandy even. But Patrick missed them all together, and Pete knew he did.  
It was under pretty horrible circumstances that they were all brought together but...he enjoyed their company. He doesn't get to see Spencer that much since college, but Ryan and Dal are almost always over with Brendon. Surprisingly, Patrick hit it off pretty well with Joe and Andy, now he was really close with them and Pete. Speaking of Pete, he hasn't stopped texting him since he drove him to school this morning, which...really Pete?  
Pete had continued the path he was on when he was in high school; music. He had this huge dream of owning his own record label and Joe had made fun of him for it, Patrick rolling his eyes. Now Pete was scheduled to go to the arts institute in October. Patrick was happy for him, so was everyone else.  
Tyler was still a vampire and Josh was still a ghost. Tyler was being taught things and was taken under Gerard and Mikey's wing whilst they looked for a necromancer for Josh. Now that they had one - thanks to Spencer, according to Brendon - all they needed to do was find Josh's body in the morgue. Everything was fine on their end. Spencer even found a new pack, which he said he wouldn't join, that he was the alpha of this one. Brendon had burst into tears over that, Pete laughing his ass off at their domestic display.  
Everything was just falling into place, it was all going back to normal.

Patrick hated normal.

 

"You okay?"

Patrick looked at Brendon, then at the classroom door in front of him.

"You wanna skip?"

Brendon smiled and began walking away, "on the first day? You blow my mind, Stumpy."

Patrick snorted, walking after him. It wasn't until they were back downstairs and out the front doors, walking in the direction of Brendon's house, did the younger decide to speak.

"You hate normalities, I can tell."

Patrick looked at Brendon, then back at the ground in front of them. So they were finally gonna talk about it.

"Reminds me too much of a routine, my mom has one and so does my dad, never liked them."

"What if,"

Patrick looked at Brendon, saw he was heading in a different direction. He followed.

"Your normal life was secretly different?"

Patrick raised a brow and Brendon continued, turning left. Patrick realized it was the direction of Ryan and Spencer's house.

"See, you can see and contact ghosts, your boyfriend is a recently dead guy and your best friend is a witch! You helped stop a demon controlling dick with the help of two vampires, a hunter, a priest, a werewolf, a human, and a half demon. Basically, you're a little bit different than normal."

"You've been dead before and have seen someone die. A psychic and another witch have befriended you after predicting your death and stopping it."

Patrick furrowed his brows, "yeah, but that was two months ago. Now? I'm a nobody."

Brendon hummed, and turned down Ryan's street, "not exactly. See, we've all been thinking about it and...what if we hunted ghosts sometimes? It would be fun and we can even be like Ghost Adventures, but I call dibs on being Andrew Nichols."

Patrick smiled, "dude, that's a horrible show."

Brendon walked up the porch steps and grabbed the handle of the door, "are you in?"

Patrick smiled, "heck yeah."

Brendon laughed and twisted the knob, pulling open the door. There was light chattering coming from the kitchen and Brendon turned the light on. Patrick toed off his shoes and stashed his backpack next to the front door. He followed Brendon to the kitchen smiling at the sight of everyone gathered around the table. 

"Oh good, you skipped school."

Patrick playfully hit Spencer on the shoulder, "why's everyone here?"

"Well, we were gonna wait till you nerds got home but since you're conveniently here...think you can help us out?"

Brendon plopped down on a seat sandwiched between Ryan and Dallon, "what's the sitch?"

Patrick sat next to Pete who managed to find a way and force Patrick to practically sit on his lap, "some dick was messing with poltergeists near New Jersey."

Patrick jumped at the sound of Frank's voice, "fuck yeah, love Jersey. Me and the Ways now that place like the back of our hands."

"Frank, you're back."

Frank nodded at Patrick and winked at them, sitting on the counter.

"We in?"

Patrick pulled out his phone and typed in his passcode, clicking on the contact that said "Mom"

"Uh yeah, hold on lemme tell my Mother that I'm gonna be at Bren's I guess..."

Patrick didn't have to tell his mom but when the whole demon situation was going down, she had somehow found out that Patrick wasn't at Bren's and neither was Brendon. After the news report of the amusement park 'attack' she had called the cops and sent out a missing person's report. It was best to text her.

Frank beamed, "awesome! I have just the guy who can help us in Jersey!"

Gerard lit up, "is it Bert?"

The room grew quiet and Frank scowled hard. A guttural growl emitting from his throat, "no."

Gerard looked slightly terrified but Mikey spoke up like it was nothing, "please tell me it's Ray."

Frank's expression and demeanor changed. He smirked, "hell yeah."

Patrick sat back and watched them converse, smiling as Tyler ruffled Josh's freshly dyed red hair and Joe and Andy roasted Brendon. This is what he was waiting for. This piece of not normal normality in his life.

And with Pete's arm around his waist and the other holding his hand, thumb rubbing gentle circles on Patrick's palm, he wouldn't change this for the world.

"I love you."

Patrick smiled, "love you too..."

 

"So does this mean I can drop out of high school now?"

 

Everyone around the table seemed to have turned to him at the same time, "no!"

 

He laughed joyfully, locking eyes with Brendon across the table. The younger winked and Patrick shook his head, leaning back into Pete.

 

He furrowed his brows and glared at the previously dead man, "you still haven't seen my dog."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo THE END BITCHES ok ok announcement time...I'm gonna make The Ghost Adventures that they go on a series with different ghost things. Hopefully it's really good??? Idk but we'll see...the first part should be up next week...


End file.
